Gregor and the Prophecy of Hope
by Hope 'n Light
Summary: It's been six years since Gregor last saw the Underland and Luxa, his first love. Now he once again decends to the Underland, accidently bringing some friends with him, and faces the choice of deciding where he truly belongs in his two important worlds.
1. Chapter 1

Part One: The Letter

**Chapter One**

In the early morning darkness of his room, Gregor woke with a start, gasping for air, one hand clutching at the scars on his chest. It took him several long minutes of panting before he was able to calm down. Out of habit, he clicked his tongue and the images in his room bounced back to him in sharper focus for a moment.

Everything was as it should be.

He found his watch in the darkness, pressing the side button to light up the face of it, he saw that it was just coming upon four-thirty in the morning. Despite it being so early, he knew there was no more chance at sleep. Not after that dream. He threw back the covers and moved around the room in darkness to find a pair of basketball shorts and a dark hoodie. Pulling the hoodie over his head he unwound the headphones from his iPod and shoved them in his ears.

He clicked his way through the house, something his mother had absolutely forbid him to do when he was twelve years old, but he didn't bother to follow her instructions on that one. Even without the clicking, he could see with the noise from his breathing. The clicking just made the images all the more sharper.

As he passed his little sister, Lizzie's, room he could see a sliver of light shining under the door and he paused, pulling one earphone out to listen. There was silence. It was as he expected, she was sleeping and not up doing homework. Sometimes it was hard to tell, she had slept with the light on for the past six years. That was how she dealt with the nightmares.

Gregor went though the kitchen and took a drink out of the faucet before he pushed open the back door and blasted the music into his ears. His mother dealt with memories by forbidding anyone to talk about it. His father used the Discovery Channel and weekly sessions with a therapist. Lizzie slept with the light on. Maggie…he wasn't sure how she dealt with the dreams, if they even came for her.

And Gregor dealt with the nightmares by running.

He wasn't running away from them. He had learned long ago there was no running away; he was only running to deal with them. Just like everything else he had done to deal with things over the past few years.

He had been almost thirteen when the family had moved to Virginia, living on his Uncle's farm. Things weren't always easy, and after a few near explosions of his temper, he had taken up wrestling at his new Jr. High in order to help him control the constant urge inside of him to fight. His coaches just thought he was a natural, they didn't know the self-restraint and the power he had to exert to keep himself from going too far. But it had helped.

And then running helped.

He liked running in darkness best; there was something about it, with the music blasting in his ears that almost distracted him from the usual nightmares.

The problem was that this nightmare wasn't the usual one. He'd had it before, maybe four or five times and it had taken weeks to get over.

This one didn't have the bodies and the blood, the heavy ashes and smoke. It didn't even have the huge white monster attacking and clawing at his chest; killing Ares.

No, this was the one dream that made him feel crazy. It was a dream of nothing. Darkness, falling and nothing; not even a bottom. Just nothing.

Gregor stepped off the train and looked around the bustling subway station. He inhaled and nearly choked on the stale humid air but he couldn't help but grin. New York City had been his home before the move.

This was his first visit back to the city and he couldn't believe how much he suddenly felt at home after so long. Gregor had graduated from high school two weeks earlier and was headed on a long weekend trip to Boston to check out apartments and jobs in the area before he started school there in the fall.

He took the stairs out of the station two at a time, and winced when the sunlight hit him, smiling at himself for being amazed at its existence, its brightness. He had once promised himself he would never take it for granted again.

He cut though a particular path in Central Park, remembering the times he had spent with his sisters, Lizzie and Boots. They had grown up in the past few years too. Lizzie went by Elizabeth full time now that she was now in high school. Despite the few things she did to cope with the memories, moving to Virginia had been the best thing for her. In New York, she had been plagued by panic attacks but now she was well on her way to an academic scholarship at any Ivy League school she wanted.

Boots was nine now and ever the 'Princess' refused to let anyone outside her family ever know the childish nickname they had given her as a baby. As a toddler, she'd had a habit of wearing the family's boots during the winter, and the name had stuck until she was nearly six. It was around that time she'd stopped referring to herself as a Princess though and asked to be called Maggie, a nick name from her name of Margaret.

As Gregor neared the exit of Central Park, he paused in the middle of the walkway, nearly getting run over by a bicyclist who cursed as he swerved to miss him. Gregor ignored him, staring at a particular slab of cement in the sidewalk. Over the years he'd wondered if anyone had ever discovered it, but it looked too blended in for anyone to have used it in the recent past or with any regularity.

He thought of the day December when he had taken Boots sledding in Central Park and she'd disappeared down the tunnel the cement slab covered. He often wondered how much of that year Boots remembered. She'd been only three when they left New York, and she still had much the same personality she'd had as a precocious 2 year old, a little wiser though.

There were times Gregor would catch her watching the bugs on the farm, colonies of ants, roaches, spiders. Whatever she could find and he wondered if she remembered, but he didn't ask. He wouldn't have asked even if his mother hadn't forbidden the subject.

He wondered, as he had a million times since the day they had left, if it had been fair of their mother to stop them from talking about it. At the same time, he understood. Did he want to talk about it? They had all been so affected that even now, the thought of the dream that had woken him early that morning made him shiver.

"Hey man, wait up! What's with you?"

Gregor's head lifted in surprise and chagrin as he remembered that his two friends had been traveling on the train with him. He had completely forgotten them when he stepped onto the platform; the memories of his past had taken over.

"Gregor!" Anna huffed as she reached him, looping her arm through his she pointed down to her high heels. "I can't run to keep up with you in these shoes!"

Knight had stopped next to Gregor as well, hosting his backpack and Anna's large duffle bag higher on his shoulder. "I mean, I know you were hesitant to let us come with you, but I didn't think you'd ditch us!"

"Sorry guys," Gregor began as he tried to resist the pull the large cement slab had on him. That was probably the reason his father had insisted on his two friends as traveling companions. "I just got caught up in old memories. My family lived just a few blocks from here, but we can take a taxi to the hotel first. You two can hang out there, and I can meet up with you in a couple hours."

Anna tugged on his arm, "You're not leaving me with Knight, you forget, neither of us has been to New York City before, you are our tour guide and we're only here one night."

"We'll just come with you and head to the hotel later. Our bags aren't that heavy." Knight offered. He knew Gregor had come to New York for one purpose and it wasn't sight seeing.

Gregor was reluctant, but he finally agreed. The two friends had been there for him over the past years. Gregor had met Knight shortly after moving to Virginia, he lived just a few miles from Gregor's family farm. Gregor guessed by the way Lizzie had started to trail after his friend that Knight lived up to his name in every female mind. He was captain of the football team at the high school and one of those guys that could have any girl with his tall dark and handsome looks.

Well, any girl but Anna.

Anna had moved in to their rather small town just two years ago, and she had what Gregor's mom called 'attitude'. Gregor had decided 'attitude' was a cross between rudeness and spunk, but a combination that created a headstrong girl who knew exactly what she wanted out of life. And for some reason, Anna wanted Gregor. Or so it appeared.

"So, tell me who we're visiting again?" Anna asked as she linked her arm through Gregor's when the neighborhoods became less desirable the closer they got to the apartment building Gregor had grown up in.

Gregor frowned, "I got a letter telling me that Mrs. Cormaci had passed away and she'd left some things for me with her son." He paused a moment to think of the eccentric, tarot card reading woman who'd become a sort of protector for his family that last year in New York City.

Once the family moved, they'd kept in contact, but it had slowly dwindled until the contact was more at Birthday's and Christmas. But Mrs. Cormaci had not only helped Gregor and his family through some hard times; Gregor was convinced that she'd saved his life on more than one occasion. Sometimes with odd jobs and money, sometimes with food, and sometimes in ways Gregor hadn't ever really figured out.

He saw that his friends were looking at him again for further explanation, "She was sort of a grandma to us when my grandma was pretty sick. We were really close to her during some hard times."

"Hard times like when you got these?" Gregor looked to the scars that Anna was tracing on his forearm.

The scares had faded over the years, but still Gregor tried to cover them when he could. His friends had seen them though; even the five long gashes over his chest that represented the closest Gregor had ever come to death.

"Yes," he answered atomically, "she was there when the car accident happened."

He didn't elaborate though, because there had been no car accident. Most people accepted it and marveled that he was still alive.

"Here we are," Gregor announced as he stopped in front of the rather depressing apartment building, absently rubbing his free hand over the raised scares on his chest, thinking more on the internal scars.

Mrs. Cormaci had been there then too, when he had fought going with his family because of constant ache of the scares he carried around. "Gregor," she'd said in her thick Brooklyn accent, "you have to move on, you have to set the example for your sisters. When you were down in that hole, you made your choice and you chose to live. Now is when you do that."

Inside the lobby Gregor smiled to see that the elevator was out of order, as usual and he lead his friends to the stairs. "It wasn't much," He said apologetically, "but was home."

"Hey man, we know that's like." Knight assured him.

Gregor knew Knight could relate to living paycheck to paycheck. His family hadn't ever had a lot of extra money either, in fact he and his mom had probably lived in an apartment similar to this one in Los Angles before his mother had escaped from Knight's abusive father when he was eleven. That was another thing they had in common. He and Knight had had to grow up a lot faster than most kids their age, it set them apart. Anna, on the other hand, came from money in the south; her whole family had been rich for generations and she looked rather nervous in the dilapidated halls of his old home.

"It's so strange to be back here," Gregor mumbled under his breath as they came out of the stairwell.

He led his friends down the hall and knocked quickly and loudly on the apartment at the end, and then stood, holding his breath, until the door opened.

"Hello," greeted a balding middle aged man, "You must be Gregor."

"I am," Gregor said, holding out his hand, "You must be Mrs. Cormaci's son."

The man shook Gregor's hand and opened the door wider to let them in, the apartment seemed so empty without the scent of something good cooking and without Mrs. Cormaci's large personality. They were obviously still going through her things but a majority of the living area was stacked with boxes.

There was an awkward moment and then Gregor began, "You're letter said you'd be here today, I hope you got mine in return?"

"I did, just yesterday, I would have e-mailed or called, but all mom had was your address in her old Christmas card address book, I'm glad you were able to come Gregor. Mom seemed so adamant that you get this at the end, you're family meant a lot to her once we were all moved out and dad was gone."

Gregor swallowed, suddenly remembering that it was because of this man's steel toed boots that he didn't have acid riddled feet. He hadn't thought of that in years. He took a deep breath, "I'm glad you contact us as well, Mrs. Cormaci meant a lot to our family; most of the time she even felt like family."

"Well," the man said, looking around a bit before he spotted a box with an envelope taped to the top and 'GREGOR' printed on the side. "I guess this is what you came for. I hope there's something in there that will keep mom's memory alive with your family." He paused and took a deep, emotional breath. "We sure miss her."

Gregor touched his chest over his heart, feeling the bump of a few scars as he did so, "I will keep her in my heart, as will my family. Thank you so much for getting this to me."

With that, he turned and ushered his silent friends out of the apartment building, his breath coming too quickly as so many memories washed over him.

When they got down to the lobby, Anna put a hand on Gregor's chest, Knight on his shoulder as both looked at him in concern.

"Gregor?" Knight asked first.

"I'm fine," he brushed off their worry, hoisting the box under his arm, he started out, but the envelope slipped off the box and onto the floor. Anna bent to pick it up and as she did, a key fell out.

She picked up the key and handed it to Gregor, "Wow, what do you think it's for?"

Gregor already knew, but Knight pulled at the neat tag Mrs. Cormaci had labeled it with, "The laundry room?" Knight asked in confusion. "She left you a key to the building's laundry room? Is that a code for something?"

Gregor laughed, hoping his unease wasn't detected, "Yeah, it's an old joke we had. Come on guys, let's get going. We need to drop our stuff off at the hotel before we go out to enjoy our day in New York City!"

Gregor lay awake late that night, his mind whirling over the possibilities and the questions that were tumbling over each other in his head. It all started with one question; why had Mrs. Cormaci left him the laundry room key?

On one level, it was obvious, but on another, it was as far from obvious as you could get. She was the one who had told him to move on. Didn't the key mean go back?

Gregor listened to Knight's deep breathing on the other bed and knew he was sleeping. Anna was in a connecting room, the door open just a small crack but he figured she'd been asleep for hours. Quietly, he leaned over the bed and found his clothes, slipping them on quietly; he grabbed his backpack and the box from by the door and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Gregor decided not to get a taxi to his old apartment building; he needed the time to think. As he jogged down the quiet sidewalks he wondered what he was doing. He hadn't realized that the temptation to jump would be so very strong when he got to New York City. Or had he realized it? Was that the reason he hadn't told his mom about this little side trip before he and his friends went on to Boston? Gregor had told his father, and he guessed his father had encouraged him to take his friends to help ease the temptation. Would jumping solve the mysteries that had plagued him? Would it stop the nightmares that hadn't ceased or even eased in their intensity in nearly six years? Or would jumping just cause much more heart ache?

The dream. Maybe that was it. That dream where nothing greeted him is what scared him the most. Because even if he didn't jump. Even if he spent the rest of his life in Virginia or Boston he needed there to be something at the bottom.

Gregor let himself into his old building and then pulled the laundry room key from his pocket to let himself in. The room was empty; the florescent lights buzzed loudly when no washers or dryers ran. Gregor paced down an aisle between machines; stopping at the one on the very end he opened the box Mrs. Cormaci had left him.

On top, he found a single sheet of paper and he paused to read it.

_Gregor, _

_ Now, I'm sorry I didn't get to give you this in person, I always thought you'd come back for it. When you were twelve years old, you were so young and you needed to go with your family. You had made the choice to live for them, and when you moved, that's what you did. I hope you eventually made the choice to live for yourself as well. I think that if you have, you will know why I gave you the key. If you don't know, I want you to think really hard. _

_ Hope is something that not everyone has in this life. Hope is what keeps you going, but eventually, it will run out if you don't ever find out where your hopes lie. _

_ Kiss your sisters for me Gregor. Watch out for them. _

_ Love, Mrs. Cormaci_

_ PS: I hope the box will help with your decision. _

Gregor folded the paper, and slipped the note into his pocket as he looked in the box. On top there were three full water bottles, two flashlights, one big Maglight and a smaller pocket sized one with some spare batteries. Next he pulled out a roll of duck tape, a handful of candy bars and at the bottom, a brand new pair of shoes. _The good kind_, Gregor thought as he pulled the shoes out and immediately switched his well worn ones for the new black Nike's.

As he laced up the shoes Gregor knew he had made his decision. Mrs. Cormaci was right; this was the decision to live for himself finally. He swung his backpack down and shoved the old shoes in, dumping the rest of the items from the box on top, he zipped the backpack up and hoisted it onto his shoulders. As he did so, he heard a familiar clanging echoing behind the dryer and he couldn't help but smile.

He left the box on top of the dryer and pushed the machine over several inches so that the grate behind it was fully exposed. The screws had been tightened somewhat but he pulled out his new Swiss Army pocket knife-a graduation gift from his parents-and took the screws out, pulling the grate open fully. It would be a tighter fit than when he was twelve, but he knew if he could just get his shoulders through, he would be fine.

He grinned down into the darkness as faint wisps' of silver air seemed to tug him forward.

"Gregor!" The call, a simultaneous one from both Anna and Knight, came from the direction of door. "What are you doing?"

Gregor looked back at them one last time before he leaned forward and tumbled head first down the dark shaft.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Gregor rolled over in the air currents, he could see the square of light above him, it was growing smaller, but not as fast as one would imagine. The currents made falling much less frightening than it would be without them to slow his fall somewhat. Suddenly, the light from the laundry room was blocked out and Gregor swore under his breath as Knight called down words that Gregor didn't hear.

"I'm sorry! Go home!" Gregor yelled, but he knew he was probably too far down now for them to distinguish his words.

Then he heard another loud curse and there was that square of light again, Gregor dug a small keychain flashlight from his pocket. He hadn't left the house without a flashlight for years, he clicked it on and saw that Knight was now falling too, still several feet above him, but the currents were now carrying his friend down and he heard Anna's voice call from above, although he couldn't hear her words. And then she was falling too.

Gregor had done it again. He had entered the Underland, and he was bringing his friends with him.

"Gregor, what the hell is going on?" Knight shouted, he was flailing about in the current, making him fall faster.

Gregor caught his friends backpack and said, "relax, just ride the current and you'll be fine. Don't fight it."

Above him, Gregor could hear Anna crying, "Anna?" he called, "Anna, if you can hear me, I want you to know you're going to be fine. Just don't fight the current and you're going to be fine."

Knight was still fighting, but much less. Gregor could see the restraint it took and he couldn't blame them. He remembered when he'd first fallen down the shaft with Boots. He had been sure they were going to be crushed, but they hadn't, they had fallen just as gracefully as they now were.

"Gregor, what is going on?" Knight asked, "I thought you were committing some kind of suicide, but I knew that's not like you. But what is this? What is this silvery stuff?"

Gregor shined his flashlight down toward the ground and he saw that they were approaching. "Knight," he said directing his friend's attention, "See, there's the floor. Just put your feet out and be ready to land."

"Gregor, what is going on?" Knight demanded again, but he did seem to be preparing for landing despite the panic in his voice.

"I'll try to explain when we get to the bottom," Gregor said, feeling exhausted at the possibility of telling the tale of the Underland. "How did you find me?"

"Can you just keep your light on the ground?" Knight barked, bracing for the impact. It was gentle though and both landed like they were large and graceful cats.

"Anna, you're almost to the bottom," Gregor called up to the girl. "We'll catch you."

Knight ended up catching Anna, she landed cradled in his arms while Gregor dug around his backpack to find the extra flashlights.

"Well," Knight said to Anna, "I always knew I could sweep you off your feet."

She giggled, despite the apparent fear on her face, "Put me down, Knight. Where are we?"

Knight set Anna on her feet and then sat down on a large rock on the cave floor, "Well, I know, but pull up a seat; I think Gregor was just going to tell us."

Gregor pulled the two flashlights free of his backpack and handed one to teach of them, they both clicked on the beams and looked around the cave curiously. Gregor was tempted to tell them to remember to save battery life, but then decided against it. He could see in the dark if it came down to it, but only habits die hard and he had always worried about having light.

"Okay, well I wasn't planning on this being a group field trip," he said as he tugged his backpack shut and hoisted it on, "But we'll have to go into Regalia before we can find a way to get you two back up to the Overland."

"Gregor," Knight said, standing up now. "Have you gone mad? We are in a cave in the middle of the earth! We're going to get burned up in here or something. Tell me what is going on?"

"Honestly," Gregor said, "I think we need to walk while I try to tell you. You never know what could be in these caves."

"What _could_ be in these caves?" Anna asked nervously, shining her flashlight into the darkness.

"Well, I mean, or who." Gregor said with a shrug, he turned toward Regalia, the Underland City inhabited by pale, violet eye humans.

He didn't turn back, but he finally heard hesitant footsteps behind him as Knight and Anna followed, and then he spoke. "When I was eleven, Boots, well, Maggie, fell down that very same grate when I was putting some laundry in. Just like you two, I decided to go in after her and we discovered this place. They call it the Underland."

"Who is 'they'?" Knight asked from behind him.

"The people who live here; the Underlanders. They've been down here several hundred years. Their original leader had visions of the world ending and he felt the only way to survive would be under the earths surface, so here we are." Gregor turned to look at them with a half smile, "Their city is called Regalia, but there are many other lands down here, with many different creatures."

"Creatures?" Anna squeaked, obviously terrified now.

"I'm just going to pretend I'm still sleeping and having one of the most realistic dreams ever," Knight told her as he put a comforting arm around his friend.

"We're having the same dream?" Anna asked him, then quickly put a hand over his mouth, "And don't you dare use any of your lines about me being in your dreams."

Knight just grinned back at her, shaking his head, "Yep, its one realistic dream."

Gregor picked up his pace, "Let's just hurry and get to the city."

The walk though the turning and twisting tunnels was easier to navigate than Gregor had thought it would be, although Knight voiced several times that he thought they were probably going in circles, Gregor was confident that they were not. Half an hour later, he saw dim lightness up ahead and he picked up his pace to a jog, right though the curtain of moths that provided a warning barrier for those in the arena.

Gregor looked back at Knight, who still had an arm around Anna as they ducked through the curtain, both turning to look and see what the fabric was. Gregor didn't watch to see if they discovered it was months instead of fabric.

There wasn't a large crowd in the arena, in fact as Gregor looked around he thought it looked like they were packing up for the evening but a couple people did turn to look at the three strangers who had emerged onto their training field.

"Overlander!" Gregor turned at the voice and a huge grin broke out on his face.

"Mareth!" Gregor called as he recognized the man.

Soaring in for a landing on a giant bat was war-wearied soldier who was one of his most trusted Underland friends. Mareth was usually in charge of training in the arena, and Gregor was glad to see the familiar face.

"Hello Andromeda," Gregor greeted the bat as it fluttered down beside him.

"Greetings Overlander," Andromeda answered in her purring voice. "You have grown much since last you were here."

"I should hope so," Gregor said with a grin, his gaze turning to Mareth who slid off the bat, his cane to balance him on his good leg.

"Overlander, I never thought we'd see you again," Mareth greeted him as he swept Gregor up in to a tight, rib cracking hug.

"I wasn't so sure myself, Mareth. But I found myself in New York City with a couple spare flashlights and so I thought I would drop in."

Both of them turned when they heard a whimpering behind them and Gregor again remembered his friends, "Mareth, these are my friends, Anna and Knight."

He realized he probably should have better prepared them for meeting not only the giant animals, but the silver blond haired, violet eyed and pale, almost transparent skin. He had gotten so used to it during his time in the Underland that he hadn't had a second thought about it.

"More brave Overlanders?" Mareth asked as he walked to Gregor's friends, his hand extended. "Most are not so brave as your friend Gregor, I am glad to meet you, friends of the Warrior."

"Is that," Anna managed to shriek out, "A giant bat?"

Andromeda cringed at the tone and fluttered back a little, "They are not natural ambassadors as you and your sister, Overlander."

Mareth put out a hand to his bat, "Meet you my flier, Andromeda." He said to Knight and Anna, "She will not harm you."

There was an awkward silence in the air, Knight and Anna obviously did not know how to greet the giant bat politely and so said nothing.

"How fairs Regalia, Mareth? The Queen?"

"Oh my," Mareth said, looking at his bat, "we must be getting to the palace, there is a wedding feast this evening and you must come, Overlander!"

"A…a wedding?" Gregor stuttered over the words.

Mareth smiled, "Oh yes, things are finally starting to look up after so many years of war, but we need not speak of that now. Let me find you a flier to take you and your friends to the palace so you may bath and prepare for the festivities. Queen Luxa will be so glad to have you as her guests."

Gregor felt his heart drop right through his stomach and down to his feet at Mareth's words. He wondered if it would be too rude to ask it the flier could just carry them back up to the Laundry room. _Gregor, _he thought_ this is what you came here for. To find out what life is left for you. You want Luxa to be happy and you knew it wouldn't work when you are an Overlander._

Mareth looked up to the few bats who remained in the arena, "Aw, yes, Elpis!" He called. "Would you give the Overlander and his friends a ride to the High Hall?" as the large bat circled and dove, Mareth also called to the others, "And let us keep the Overlander's arrival here a surprise for the Queen."

"Jump, Overlander," A voice said from behind Gregor and without thinking, he jumped spread eagle and the bat dove under him, flying up and circling the arena. Gregor couldn't help the grin the spread across his face at the flying sensation. It took him a moment to get over the sense of Déjà vu and remember that this large bat was not Ares. It was not the bat who had saved his live on so many occasions.

"Overlander," the bat purred and he realized the higher pitch of her voice that she was female. "I am called Elpis. Ares was my brother."

It took Gregor a moment for her words to register, "I did not know Ares had a sister."

"To us, family is something different than it is to you, but I do remember Ares favorably."

"So do I," Gregor said softly. "Hey Elpis, my friends have not flown on fliers before, do you think you could land so they can get on?"

"Yes, Overlander." She dove in for a landing near to where Knight stood glaring with Anna half hidden behind him.

"We aren't riding a bat," Knight said, "What is this place!"

Gregor sighed, trying to remember how he had been when he had first entered the Underland; none of these was natural as it now felt. He had unwittingly lead two of the people who hadn't questioned his oddness into this odd land full of things that were terrifying.

He slipped off the bat and walked to his friends, "I'm sorry that you were dragged into this with me, but I promise you, no harm will come to you if you're with me or my friends here. There are things here that are unusual but if you give it a chance, you'll see that they aren't that different than you. All the same, in order to get home, you'll have to fly on a bat. It's really not that bad…it's like riding a horse." He glanced back at Elpis, "Well, a horse with wings."

"I will not let you fall," Elpis assured them in her soothing voice.

Gregor took Anna's hand and pulled her toward the black bat, "Anna, this is Elpis."

"How do I get on?" Anna asked, taking a brave deep breath.

Gregor showed them how to climb up on the bat, he took the front while Anna settled on behind Gregor, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist with Knight behind her and Elpis took off, her powerful black wings taking them up and over the arena walls and giving the bats eye view of the City of Regalia.

"Oh!" Anna gasped, "It is beautiful!"

"What is all this made of?" Knight asked, not able to conceal his own wonder.

"The city is carved out of stone," Gregor answered, looking out over the stone city lit by thousands of torches.

"Sandwhich," Elpis began, "Was a master stone craftsman."

"Sandwhich?" Knight asked confused.

"The guy who founded the Underland," Gregor said by way of explanation. "I'll try to

explain later."

When Gregor had last seen Regalia it had been war torn and devastated from the Rats invasion. As the palace came into view, Anna again gasped at its beauty, "Oh, I love it. It's everything a fairy tale castle should be. Did you say we are going to a Queen's Wedding?"

Her words dug a knife into her heart, "Um…yeah."

"I'm wearing this to a wedding?" Anna asked, gesturing to her holy jeans, t-shirt and flip flops.

"You're worried about your clothes right now?" Knight asked incredously. "I'm worried that this isn't a dream and we will have to fly a bat home."

"You're dream theory is out, Knight," Anna said, "if it was a dream, I'd be wearing a princess dress to a wedding at a castle."

"Overlander," Elpis interrupted, speaking to Gregor. "Would you like me to avoid the High Hall until you are bathed and dressed?"

"Yes, please, Elpis." Gregor told her gratefully; glad he didn't yet have to face Luxa.

She swooped down to the river side of the palace and flew them up the river to the back entrance of the palace, she landed at the bottom of the stairs and let them off while a young guard at the door looked at them questioningly.

"What business have you at the back door of the palace?" He asked, holding his spear in front of the door.

"Outta the way, incompetent pup," came a sarcastic and yet familiar voice from behind the door as it opened.

"Ripred!" Gregor said before the rat even came into view. He glanced back and Anna and Knight who were still standing, "By the way, there are also giant rats, but Ripred won't hurt?"

"And the others will?" Knight asked outraged.

"It depends how annoying they find you," Ripred said as he dragged his large rat body down the stairs. "Boy, do you know how late you are?"

"Late?" Gregor asked, "I wasn't even planning on coming, how did you know I …" His voice trailed off as Narissa appeared behind him.

"Come Gregor and friends, we must have you ready in time." Narissa said to them as she beckoned them into the palace.

"I can't believe you had to ask how we knew you were coming," Ripred said, flicking the back of Gregor's head with his tail.

"Don't tell me there's another prophecy about the warrior."

"Oh no, you killed the warrior, but Narissa has been developing her gift and I'd almost place money on her these days." In Ripred's language that was a compliment. "How's Lizzie? I see you didn't bring my favorite member of your family. You never think about me? Who are these Overlanders?"

"My friends, Anna and Knight."

"Obviously not close friends, as they have no idea about the Underland. I think the girl is about to pass out from the sight of me, so I'll see you upstairs. And be quick about it!"

Ripred took off with a quick backwards glance at Gregor before they were left alone with Narissa, who looked better than she had since…well, ever, if Gregor was being honest. She was not only dressed nicely with her hair done, but she actually looked as if she had been eating a little bit.

"How are things Narissa?"

"Things are well, Gregor." She gave him a somewhat pitying smile, " We talk later though. If you would show Knight into the bathroom, I will escort Anna. Oh and Gregor," Gregor turned back to her as two guards came down the hallway with large baskets, "Some clothes for you."

"Seriously? Maybe this is Anna's dream," Knight said as he looked at Gregor in the mirror. "These clothes are awesome, what are they made of anyway?"

"Spider web," Gregor said absently.

"Ug!" Knight began a string of complaints and protests but he didn't hear, he was too busy looking at himself in the mirror, surprised at the clothes he had been given. The ones Knight wore were more like the clothes Gregor had worn on previous trips to the Underland, they were a somewhat dressier, the pants were dark, but top lighter with an embroidered sash and military belt. He felt like it was something a war general would wear; or maybe a Warrior.

"Well if it isn't Prince Charming," Ripred sneered as he came into the room, he wiggled something off his back and onto the floor, "Don't forget this."

Gregor picked up the sheathed dagger and held it for a long moment, fingering the ruby encrusted hilt. Solovet's dagger, the one she had given him to protect his left side; his weak side.

"I'm not here as a warrior, Ripred." He said softly, "I'm not sure I should even be here."

He felt the tail knock him in the back of his head again, "Oh, a pity party, these are fun. Snap out of it. We've got a wedding to get to, we're going to be late and everyone will stare at you. Out in the hall, out!"

He pushed both Knight and Gregor out into the hall and Anna came out moment's later, looking beautiful in a pale purple dress that would never work on any Underlander. Narissa's vision must be getting better if she had ordered the clothes made for him and his friends.

Gregor saw Anna talk a half step toward him but then Ripred's tale snaked around Knight's legs and pushed him forcefully toward her, "Sorry, the Warrior has a reputation to maintain. I'm sure you'll understand if you have to escort the pretty lady for tonight, as Gregor will be taken by the attention of so many others."

"Why do they keep calling you the Warrior, Gregor?" Knight asked him softly as they followed Ripred toward the High Hall.

"Because," Ripred said, obviously able to hear the barest of whispers, "Gregor killed out greatest enemy."

Both his friends looked at him in shock and confusion, "Uh…it's a long story."

"I'm beginning to think your scares aren't from a car accident."

Ripred snickered ahead of them and urged all of them forward with a flick of his tail.


	3. Chapter 3

****Disclaimer: Original characters and story for 'The Underland Chronicles' was created by Suzanne Collins****

**Chapter 3**

Gregor almost wished he could be the one to escort Anna into the room, then he knew he wouldn't feel so like such a fool for walking in on the wedding. Luxa had been his first love, and he had never given up on that. He realized now that there was something in him that had always known he would come back one day. But had he expected her to be waiting around for him?

Yes.

Despite it all, despite the fact that she had a country to run and people who were her own race surrounding her, he had wanted her to wait around for him to grow up and come back to her. Gregor clenched his fists tightly, the familiar controlled rager sensation washed over him as he realized that he wished now that if he had never left it meant he could have been the one to end up with Luxa.

But, he realized just as suddenly that it was silly to wish for something that they couldn't have had then. They had been thrown into circumstances that had forced them to grow up so fast, but when he had left the Underland, they'd been only twelve and he couldn't have chosen to stay. Over the past six years he had grown up; he had fought hard to try to overcome all the darkness he had felt creeping at the corners of his soul after all the trials he had faced in this dark place. And now Luxa, the only light for him there, was gone.

Gregor was lost in his maze of 'what if' thoughts as passed through the High Hall where the last guests were arriving. He didn't notice that as Ripred lead them past the guests, the room went silent before it erupted with intense whispered conversations as they past. Knight and Anna noticed though, and drew closer together as the giant rat lead them to the front of a queue of people.

Ripred's tail snapping sharply against his shins made Gregor look up and rouse out of his thoughts; he noticed the people waiting in line as a squire waited to announce their names.

"Let the other Overlanders enter first," Ripred instructed, turning to Knight and Anna. "tell the guard your name so he can announce you properly."

The pair stepped to the front and whispered their names; the guard announced them, "Knight and Anna, Overlanders"

If anything could have quieted those in the great ballroom, it was the word 'Overlander'. Every eye turned to watch as Knight and Anna stepped into the room, the hush so complete Anna's skirt could be heard rustling as she walked. Ripred nudged the suddenly stage shy Gregor forward and a gasp escaped from those looking on as the guard announced, "The Warrior, Gregor the Overlander."

He stood there, looking into the room of mostly strangers, but amazingly, his eyes instantly locked with the only violet ones in the room that mattered. Luxa.

It felt as if the whole group was holding its breath for a reaction, any reaction. They all looked to their Queen, wondering how they should greet the warrior. Luxa stood from her throne where she had been talking with a group surrounding her, and then suddenly she was flying across the floor and flung herself into Gregor's arms.

The cheer of welcome that greeted him covered Luxa's words to him from any eavesdroppers, "You came back, you came back!"

Gregor, used to the Luxa who's emotions were well hidden and masked by her somewhat cold facade had been more surprised than anyone in the room when she had flung herself in his arms.

She pulled back suddenly and before he could wonder why she slapped him across the face. "Hey!" Gregor said as he stumbled back a step in surprise, "no hitting as Boots would say!" It was not the first time she had slapped him, but he could see no reason to it this time.

As he looked at her he saw the cold façade dropping over her eyes like a stone into cold water. She straightened the skirts of her dress, as she looked him over, a haughty and hooded expression glared back at him.

"That," Luxa said, "Is for taking six years to come back."

Most people chose that moment to look away, trying to go back to their conversations before his surprising arrival. Ripred came up behind Luxa and nosed her in the small of her back, "How about we wait until we can take this little reunion to a more private venue. Besides, we have a wedding to be getting to."

Reality came crashing back down to Gregor, "Oh, right. The wedding."

"Gregor!" The voice was another familiar one and he looked up to see Howard drawing forward through the press of people, dressed similar to Gregor in fancy, prince-like, clothes.

"Hey Howard," Gregor said, detecting the melancholy in his own voice. "Oh, and hey Dulcet," he greeted as her as he recognized the girl who had often taken care of Boots on their Underland adventures. It took him a moment to realize that she was being tugged forward by Howard.

"How fair you Gregor?" She asked with her usual bright smile, "I am grateful that you could return for our wedding."

"Yeah the wedding…" Gregor suddenly looked up at the couple in surprise, "Wait, _your_ wedding?"

"Whose wedding did you think it was?" Howard asked with a chuckle, "My cousin's? Luxa is far too busy and too caught…" He suddenly broke off, clearing his throat, "I mean, constantly taking care of the kingdom."

They all turned as there seemed to be organization of some sort going on, "It looks like we had better get in our place," Dulcet said, looking dreamily at Howard. Gregor had to smile at the look; it was one that he knew Luxa could never manage even when she had loved him.

The couple turned back to Gregor, "Thank you for coming, Gregor."

"Yes, thank you Gregor, tell Boots hi for me."

"Oh, yeah. She goes by Maggie now, but I'll tell her hi."

Unsure the happy couple had heard a word he said, Gregor watch them go before he looked back down at Luxa. That surprised him, not only that he looked down at her, but he was pleased to realize that he now towered several inches taller than her.

She had grown up too and was a beautiful woman, tall and thin, but filling her out her dress in a much different way now. Her face had filled out too, leaving her purple eyes wide and almost doe like. Her once short cropped silver blond hair was long again, braided through with gold in one long braid down her back, a gold and ruby crown resting on her head.

"You are Queen now?" he observed carefully when he realized a half smile was cracking on her lips as she watched him take in all the changes in her.

"You thought I was to be married tonight, did you not, Gregor?"

Before Gregor could gratify her with the answer she wanted, Anna grabbed at his arm with a squeal. "_What _is that! What is this place, there are giant rats and bugs and …. Is that a giant _spider_?"

The neon green spider in question shrunk at her squeal and backed further away, the big bug though, did not shrink from Anna's piercing screams and bumped into Gregor's shins, "Bring the Princess, did you, bring the princess?"

"Hello Temp," Gregor said, smiling down at the cockroach. "The Princess didn't come with me this trip, but she is doing great. She's really grown up."

"Remember Temp, does she, the Princess remember Temp?"

Gregor hesitated, he hadn't asked Boots in years if she remembered her giant bug baby sitter, but she had stopped talking about the bug around the time of her sixth birthday. It was hard to say, but he chose to be diplomatic.

"Because of you Temp, Boots lives to this day, do you think she would forget someone who saved her life so many times?"

"The princesses remembers, remembers she Temp," said the bug reverently. "Miss her, Temp does, miss her. Bring her soon, will you, bring her?"

"Uh," Gregor hesitated, and it was Luxa who saved him from the awkward question this time.

"Overlanders," she said to Knight and Anna, "perhaps you would like to know that the presence of the crawlers, spinners and even the rats at a wedding the palace is a mark that what Gregor did for Regalia will never be forgotten."

Gregor looked up at her praise in surprise, then his stomach dropped as she took Knight's arm and lead him away, from where Anna still clung to Gregor's arm painfully.

"You made it possible?" Anna asked, somewhat doubtfully. "Who is she anyway?"

"The queen," Gregor said, glancing out over the crowed, noticing that indeed, the guests did include a number of mice and crawlers, with far fewer spiders and rats, but they were indeed there intermingling with the humans.

Anna must have continued to talk, but Gregor wasn't listening, he was watching as Luxa pulled Knight through the crowed of guests, talking and even laughing as they went. Knight was his best friend, but there was hardly a girl who he'd met immune to his charms and Gregor suddenly felt cold. He had feared when he heard about the wedding that he had lost Luxa forever, but he'd let hope come back into his heart when he'd found out she wasn't the one who was getting married. Suddenly, his friend was a threat to that hope and Gregor realized what choice he wanted to make.

Mrs. Cormaci's letter had told him it was time to choose to live for himself, and now watching Luxa walk away from him, he knew what choosing to live would mean. It would mean having Luxa, for without her, he could not live the life he knew would make him happy.

He just had to convince her of that.


	4. Chapter 4

****Disclaimer: Original characters and story for 'The Underland Chronicles' was created by Suzanne Collins****

**Chapter 4**

"Are you going to ruin everything boy?" Ripred said in disgust as he looked to see where Luxa had gone.

Gregor gave the rat an exasperated glare, "What exactly am I supposed to be doing?"

The rat gave a pointed look at Anna and then in the direction Luxa had gone, "What's your plan?"

Gregor knew those words had saved him in life or death situations before. Those wartime experiences in the Underland and even in the Overland, when he had confronted the challenges his Rager sensation brought on. It had been the memory of Ripred's voice and those words that had helped him to come to control those feelings; the ones that had helped him to kill.

"Sit down," Ripred said when Gregor didn't comment. "Vikus is getting ready to start."

After a simple wedding ceremony by Vikus, preceded over and solemnized by Luxa as their queen, Howard and Dulcet turned to face those gathered as husband and wife and they looked happier than Gregor could have ever imagined.

As they stepped into the crowed, the formal part of the night was over and the party began. Gregor had only been to one other party in the Underland, a birthday party. Other than that, he hadn't thought of them as capable of having much fun, but it was actually a pretty impressive event.

There were tables piled with food that filled the large rooms with a mouthwatering aroma. The middle of the floor was left open for dancing that began as soon as the orchestra was ready. It was, as Anna had said, the perfect sort of mid-evil fairy tale wedding and Gregor was glad to see that Howard and Dulcet were so happy together, the pair of them were some of his favorite Underlanders.

As he looked around for Knight and Luxa, a man approached him, but his eyes were on Anna and not Gregor, he seemed totally in shock as he looked at her.

"You're skin must require much sun, no?" he asked.

Although Gregor knew it was a compliment, Anna did not and she shrunk back a little, "Uh…well, my grandma was from Mexico, so I guess it comes from her."

The Underlander looked confused, but he smiled, "You are beautiful, would you honor me with a dance?" he held his hand out and asked, his voice so sincear that even Anna's defenses were thrown aside for a moment.

"Go on," Gregor told her. "They're all nice."

Anna took the man's hand and finally let go of her hold on Gregor's arm, he shook it out a bit as circulation came back into his fingers. Free of his Overland friends, he looked around and smiled when he saw Vikus. He was glad to see that the man had survived the stroke that hit him as the last battle took place, shortly after his wife, Solovet had been killed.

"Gregor," Vikus said warmly as he held his hands out in welcome. "I am glad to have you in our home once again."

As he spoke, Gregor saw that the left side of his face was still somewhat paralyzed, and devoid of emotion. He also walked with a cane now, but it was obvious that the gentle old man still held a commanding presence in the court of Regalia. Next to Vikus was a tall, dark haired young boy who stood out among the pale complexions almost as much as Gregor.

"Hello, Hazard," Gregor said, sticking his hand out to the boy who was now about the same age Gregor had been when he first arrived in the Underland.

"Temp says you forgot to bring Boots with you," the boy said, being followed by the large crawler. "How is she?"

Despite the difference in their ages, Boots and Hazard had formed a strong bond during their time in the Underland and Gregor wondered if his little sister remembered the boy with whom she'd had many adventures and learned to speak the tongue of the cockroaches.

"Boots is well," Gregor answered, somehow glad that she had not been forgotten.

"I am glad to hear it," Hazard replied, "will you let her know that she is greatly missed here?"

"Yes Hazard, I will."

He gave a formal nod of his head and said, "Thank you, and welcome back. If you will excuse me though, I am going to go check on some of the guests. The Spinners have gathered in a corner because of the noise and I need to see if I can convince them to come out and enjoy the evening with us."

As he left, Gregor watched him go; thinking that though still so young, Hazard, like all the children in the Underland had to grow up so fast.

"Sometimes," Vikus began as he too watched Hazard leave them. "I think that it was Hazard who was the true Peacemaker of the prophecy. His ability to speak with the other creatures who share our land has helped us to make huge strides in keeping peace."

"He must get that ability from you," Gregor said, giving the old man credit for the many years he had spent trying to form peace in the Underland. "I am glad to see you Vikus."

"And I, you, Gregor." He paused for a moment, a twinkle in his eye. "Although, I am sure my granddaughter is more excited than I."

Gregor felt his face grow hot, and he turned to look at Luxa. It was funny how in a room full of people, he knew exactly where to look for her and she was there. Vikus followed his gaze, both of them watching as Luxa showed Knight the steps to an Underland dance.

"She will fight you Gregor." Vikus said with great emotion. "She will fight having you here, and you will again have to win her heart. I will tell you truth though; you will not win it here on the dance floor. You will win it by fighting back."

"But I am going to school in Boson," Gregor said suddenly. "I plan on studying Political Science and History. I would like to be able to one day do what you have done here Vikus, to fight with peace and hope instead of swords and daggers."

Vikus looked at him, a warm look in his violet eyes, "Then your future is set? A Rager intent on being a peacemaker?"

"Ripred had the idea first," Gregor said with a grin.

Vikus was looking across the floor at Luxa once again, "if leaving here once more, will bring your world hope, I cannot deny them that. Hope is a powerful thing; it is the light in this dark land. You know that you have always given me hope, Gregor. But there is one more thing that is more powerful than hope."

"What is that?" Gregor asked him, leaning forward intently to hear his answer.

"Love," he said gently. "And if you find yourself in possession of love, I would not give it up so easily. I would tell you to rage and to fight for love."

When Gregor woke, he dressed in typical Underland clothing and hesitated as he saw the jeweled dagger still lying next to his bed. When he had left the Underland last time, he had 'killed' the warrior by breaking Sandwiches sword, truly intent on his feelings that war was not always-if ever-the answer. But in truth, the thought of being in the Underland without a weapon scared him. He had needed to defend himself too many times before to truly trust a peace he had glimpsed the night before. He fastened the dagger to his belt and went out into the corridor.

He was up early for the late night they'd had and so he didn't bother looking for Knight and Anna. There were few people about in the palace, guards stood sleepily at their posts, but not many others were yet stirring. As he came into the high hall with its open ceiling, he couldn't help but miss Ares. If he were here, he would be waiting for Gregor, knowing he needed a flight to clear his head, knowing what to say and when to say it. His heart ached painfully as he realized for the first time the ache of loosing his bond.

Ares had died in the last battle with the Bane, he had given his life for Gregor and for Regalia. Gregor had never really experienced the Underland without his bond and so it was at that moment in the empty high hall that Gregor sank to his knees, his right hand clenched to his chest that was threatening to rip apart; to rip along the five scars the Bane had left him with as the pain of Ares death washed over him.

He had opened his hand and let go of his bond on that day long ago, but he realized that it had never felt so real as it did at that very moment. Gregor gasped air in as the floor blurred in his vision and the pain tried to destroy him.

"Overlander?" the purring voice that was so similar to Ares surprised him enough to look up and he saw the large, black bat fluttering towards him.

"Elpis?" Gregor asked as sorrow washed over him once again. She was big, but not as big as Ares, and though her body was black as night, just as Ares had been, her face was lighter gray color. She was not the bat he wanted and needed so badly.

"I know I am not who you desire to fly with," Elpis said, as though reading his mind. "But I will provide you with an escape if you wish."

There was a small thought that flickered through his mind, wondering if it was dishonoring to Ares, but he had already jumped onto her back at that point and they were rising up and out of the high hall before the doubt had fully formed.

Elpis had powerful wings that had them covering great distances, but Gregor flattened himself low over her back and she pushed even harder as they soared. Gregor didn't know where there were going, and it was a true mark of Elpis nature that she did not try to speak to him, she just flew, and that is all he wanted.

Sometime later, when Gregor's sorrow was not gone, but had ran its raging course and was tucked calmly in his heart next to his memory of Ares, he looked at his surroundings. They were flying through a large cavern that almost had the appearance of a valley. Cavern walls rose up gently on most sides, with what looked like caves in the walls and a softly glowing river ran though the valley. As he looked at the area, he was surprised to see movement on the ground.

"Elpis," he asked. "What is that? Who's down there?"

"The Gnawers and the Crawlers are down there now," she answered back. "They are rebuilding it."

"Rebuilding what?" But even as Gregor asked the question, he knew. "The Garden of the Hesperides?"

"Yes," Elpis purred. "Luxa, with Ripred's advice I'm sure, made this their first priory after the war. Even as the humans began work on rebuilding Regalia, many of their best architects were sent here to see what would need to be done to rebuild the damn and to create the garden once more."

Without Gregor having to ask, Elpis dipped down lower so that he could see what was going on. It was impressive what they had done to the plain. Ripred had told them that the whole area had been reclaimed by the river with the dike broke so many years ago. He thought back to the rat's words about the land, the one place in all the Underland that could grow the golden apples.

"There are no trees," Gregor said softly, almost to himself.

"No," Elpis agreed, a note of melancholy in her voice. "The trees were destroyed and cannot be brought back. We have no seeds with which to grow them."

For some reason, that thought struck Gregor with a pang of sadness. With all that had been done to recreate the Garden, it would never be complete without the seeds to grow the trees. It seemed to be an illustration of the damage that had been done by years of hatred. It was damage that could never be completely erased.

"Was it worth it?" Gregor asked the bat as she turned to head back to Regalia.

"Overlander, do you not use your eyes?" Elpis asked him, a note of teasing and also exasperation beneath her seriousness.

"What do you mean?"

"There are no apple trees in this valley, but what is there?"

He looked down again, "Rats and Crawlers. Working." He paused and realized what she was saying, "Working together?"

"Overlander, we are not perfect, but we are working together. For the first time since humans arrived in this land, we are all striving to work together. There is much that needs improvement still. Daily Queen Luxa must deal with petty arguments between races, but we are fighting more to make things better, than to make things worse."

On the flight back, Gregor could see that what Elpis had said was right. There was, even now after six years, evidences of the war. But there was also evidence of peace, and that made Gregor smile. All Gregor had sacrificed had not been in vain. His time, his family, his childhood had been lost in a cause bigger than he was at twelve years old, but it was a relief to know that it had not been forgotten. Ares life had not been sacrificed in vain.

Elpis interrupted his musings when she flew over the outer walls of Regalia, "would you have me take you to the Palace or to the arena?"

"What is at the arena?" Gregor asked her, not ready to face the palace yet.

"Queen Luxa is there. Right now it is her free time from the responsibilities she holds."

"Then let's go to the arena," Gregor said, not fighting the thrill he felt at his opportunity to see Luxa again.

At least, until he thought of Ripred's words from the night before, _What's your plan, boy?_

And Gregor wished he knew.

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	5. Chapter 5

****Disclaimer: Original characters and story for 'The Underland Chronicles' was created by Suzanne Collins****

**Chapter 5**

Elpis flew low over the field, letting Gregor hope off before she flew off again, joining the other bats flying drills over the field. The scene was familiar one with different age groups training in different areas of combat.

That made Gregor frown though, with all the talk of peace, he'd thought the Underlanders would go little easy on their combat training. He saw Mareth and Luxa immediately, standing in the middle of a loose gathering of people. He recognized two darker heads in the group and realized that Knight and Anna must have joined them while Gregor had been gone.

"Greetings Overlander," Luxa said, dropping the more familiar use of his name. "We are teaching Knight how to sword fight. Perhaps you would like to join us and show how it is done?" "Gregor," Anna said, "tell Knight not to be crazy. They're using _real_ swords!"

Over Anna's shoulder, he saw Luxa give her look of disgust before she turned back to Knight. "Take your sword and I shall go easy on you this first time."

"He is going to fight with you, Luxa?" Gregor asked, stepping to the front of the crowed. "You don't know how to go easy on anyone."

"Perhaps you would like to spar with him, rager?" Luxa asked, the challenge in her raised eye brows.

"Just do not kill him," Gregor said, folding his arms as he watched the brief instruction and then Knight and Luxa took their spots.

Gregor was what the Underlanders called a 'Rager', which basically meant he could turn into a killing machine if he was provoked. During his last adventure in the Underland, he had managed to control his rager side somewhat. In the Overland, it wasn't always easy, especially since he had killed before in the Underland wars. He had avoided participating in many sports for fear that he would loose control, but he had always managed to stop himself before anything happened.

Now, as he watched Knight and Luxa circle, he felt the rager hum begin inside him, filling him with adrenalin. He had not fought with a sword for six years, but watching, he could see Knights obvious errors and weaknesses, and Luxa's more subtle ones. He also saw that she was indeed going easy on him, her strength and pace probably not even at half of what she was capable of.

Within two minutes she tagged Knight with the tip of her sword right where his heart was; a fatal blow.

Knight chuckled good naturedly as he handed his sword back to Mareth and dropped his arms to his sides. "I don't think sword fighting is for me. Now if you gave me a football…"

One of the Underland girls, maybe Gregor's age, maybe a little younger leaned closer, "What is a football?"

Knight looked shocked, "Well it's a game," he began, and Gregor saw several Underlanders turn to hear his description of the game. It seemed while most of the people hear pretended indifference to the world above their own, it was of some interest to them.

"Oh my gosh, I thought you were going to get so hurt!" Gregor heard Anna say behind him but then he saw Luxa standing across from him, her eyes challenging.

"Fight you, Overlander?"

Gregor remembered Vikus words from the night before and he realized that they were right. Luxa was not one to be won over by Knights games, but she would respect him if he could give her a good fight. With a smile, he stepped toward her, "I have not picked up a sword in six years; do I have your word that you will go easy on me as well?"

"One bond to another," Gregor heard Ripred's voice coming from somewhere behind Luxa, "I wouldn't go easy on him, Luxa."

"Think you he can best me, Ripred?" She asked, never looking away from Gregor.

"I think he's full of surprises, but the match will be far more entertaining than the last one. Take your sword, Warrior."

"This one should work," Mareth said as he picked one out, and as he had done at Gregor's first sword lesson, rested the blade against the back of his wrist, offering Gregor the hilt.

"Probably not as nice as the last sword you ruined," Ripred complained, "But we can't go giving you all the best ones when you tend to destroy them."

Gregor swished the sword the through the air a couple of times, the balance was a little heavier than the Sword of Sandwhich, but he should be able to handle it. As he made the cuts through the air, he could feel his rager sensation heighten, focus in on Luxa as she took her fighting stance.

"Well, not that I doubt your excellent skills, Luxa" Ripred continued, "but if you find yourself in need of a distraction, just smile at him."

Gregor glared in the rats direction, annoyed at that he was probably closer to the truth than he wanted anyone else to know.

"And remember," Ripred added, "his left side is his weak side."

"Silence, Ripred," Luxa growled from between her clenched teeth. "Let us begin, Overlander."

A hush fell over Gregor, he wasn't sure if it was because nearly everyone in the arena was now watching them or if it was just the side effects of his rager sensation. Either way, it was as if he and Luxa were the only ones there and he watched her as she advanced with careful steps, her eyes never leaving him.

As she got within range, she twitched, but Gregor knew she was baiting him, and so he continued to watch, holding his breath as he did so. She took one more step closer and he swung toward her ribs, but she blocked him with the sound of ringing metal, then counter jabbing her own sword at his midsection but he brought his arm back quickly and knocked her blow away with the pommel of his sword.

As he swung again, lunging forward, she spun out of the way and came around to swing at his right side. Gregor saw the blow and dodged it, feeling the cursed smile on his face as the thrill of their fight rushed though him He could feel his tight control though, as he parried another of her blows and took a couple steps back from her.

She rushed toward him with a blow that he blocked, he took his chance and swung wide to catch her but she countered his blow and he realized his move had left his left side open. Luxa saw this at the same moment he did and stepped in close to take advantage of his weakness. Gregor's hand however, somehow found the dagger at his hip and the metal made a sharp sound as her sword collided with his dagger.

A cry, a mixture of excitement and protest echoed from the crowd and although Luxa looked frustrated, he thought he saw a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she stepped back to circle him again, looking for an opening.

As she circled him, Gregor turned to follow her with his eyes, he thought of watching her dancing with Knight at the wedding the night before. And then there was this dance with her now, one that was familiar to both of them and so different of the one time when they had danced, one of the few lighthearted moments they had shared. And then he thought of their last conversation together.

_"It will be quite simple to forget me," said Luxa. _

_ "Never," Said Gregor. "I'll never get rid of you, no matter how hard I try." _

Gregor threw his dagger to the ground and swung at her again, she was ready this time and the broadside of her sword hit him soundly in the ribs. The crowd cheered for her, she was their queen after all, as Gregor fell to one knee, the wind knocked out of him.

"Gregor?" Luxa asked as she rushed to his side, her hand on his shoulder. He looked up grinning at her then as he caught her wrist in his hand.

"I never forgot you," he said softly, for her ears only. "You never left my heart."

"Egh!" She yanked her wrist free of his, "Next time, I shall cut you instead of bruising you, Overlander."

Gregor stood and caught her by the waist, "I didn't ask you to dance last night Luxa, but we had our dance here this morning. Would you like to do it again?"

"Are you mad?" she asked, stomping her foot, nearly missing his.

He saw her raise her hand in what looked like a wave and almost as quickly as Aurora dove down to claim her rider, Gregor was yelling, "Elpis!"

He ran away from the people as she dove for him and he jumped onto her back as they took off after Aurora and Luxa. The tunnels they flew threw were twisted and turning, in the dark, Gregor used his echo location skills to see around them, although he left the tracking up to Elpis.

Soon though, he knew where they were headed and he thought he could have guessed at it from the beginning. They were going to get some answers from each other. Last night could have easily been Luxa's wedding, Gregor realized that, and he had to know if she wished it had been her own, if she had someone who would be the next Underland King.

And if not, he had to tell her how he felt.

They landed on the edge of the Lake in Ares's old cave, the place where they had ate their last meal together.

Luxa stood with her back to Gregor, looking out over the dark lake in front of them, a single torch lit in a makeshift bracket on the wall of the cave. Aurora did not fly off as she had then, she fluttered a few feet away, looking hesitatingly between Gregor and Luxa, Elpis staying close behind Gregor as well.

"Luxa," Gregor said, taking a tentative step toward her.

"It is easy," she said softly, "to believe that we were so in love when we last stood here, is it not?"

He paused in his advance, "Weren't we?" he asked her softly.

"We were but twelve years old, Gregor. Hardly more than children and we fancied ourselves old enough to know matters of the heart?"

There was something about the way she said it, something registered in Gregor that she didn't fully believe the words she was speaking. They were words she had forced herself to believe to protect her heart the best way she could in the past six years.

Gregor had gone home to his family, sure, the past six years hadn't been easy for him in many ways. He had never really felt like he belonged in the Overland, other than when he was with his family or Knight. But he had moved forward, just like any other kid his age in his town in Virginia.

Luxa on the other hand, had been thrust into a role that she had hardly been prepared for. She had people there to guide her, Vikus and Ripred and many others, but she had lost her parents, she had gained the responsibility of the entire kingdom when the council fell in the war. At twelve years old, she had been expected to have all the answers and not allowed to make any mistakes.

She hadn't let herself think about the possibility that he might come back, just as he had tried to push the idea out of his mind for all these years. But last night, when he thought he had lost her to someone else for good, Gregor had realized that he had counted on coming back and finding her waiting for him.

"Perhaps we were young then," he said as he stepped up beside her, relieved that she didn't move away. "But we have grown," he pulled the old and faded picture from his pocket. He had removed it from his wallet before leaving his room this morning. It was faded, crinkled and worn to little more than a faint image on the paper, but still, he could see easily the two young faces pressed together for a picture, looking as though the weight of the world were on their shoulders.

"Luxa, I was afraid I had lost you last night." He admitted to her, finally answering her question from the night before. "I thought you were to be married and…and that I would never get the chance to tell you that I never stopped loving you."

Her eyes looked at the picture he held instead of at him, still guarded in her expression. "The Overland girl with you?"

Gregor couldn't help but grin, the green almost came through in her tone, "She is a friend. Maybe she hopes for more, but I never could give her anything more than friendship."

Luxa looked up at him then, a daring smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she tugged from her pocket another square photo in similar condition, showing the two of them dancing and grinning at each other without a care in the world.

"Perhaps Gregor the Overlander," she said softly, "I too, have never forgotten my love for you. But it may not be so simple, as I am Queen here in the Underland, and you are an Overlander with a whole future planned out."

"Days ago, I may have agreed with you," Gregor acknowledged, "But Luxa, I saw you and I do not want to be without you again. I would give up my life in the Overland, my family would just have to deal with it, I'm old enough now to make the decision. And…well, whatever politics are here, I'm sure you can work them out?"

Gregor reached out to touch her cheek and she finally turned to him, taking a step closer.

"It is not so simple," she said softly. "The Underland, as well as it all seems, is in grave danger, Gregor." She paused and took a quick breath, "There is another prophecy"


	6. Chapter 6

****Disclaimer: Original characters and story for 'The Underland Chronicles' was created by Suzanne Collins****

** Chapter 6**

It took several seconds for Luxa's words to sink in and even then, Gregor's thoughts were still racing at the implications.

Another prophecy? Of course there was another prophecy. The people in the Underland wouldn't know what to do without Sandwiches' stupid prophecies. Did they realize that the fact that Gregor was there, the fact that he even lived proved that there wasn't anything to the prophecies. Hadn't Ripred even told Luxa, his bond, about his theory that they _made_ the prophecies come true simply by believing they were true?

Gregor realized that Luxa was looking at him without any of her usual guarded manner, she was looking at him in the way she had all those years ago when all the barriers had been down. She was scared. Scared for him? Sure, he'd been convinced of his own death after reading _The Prophecy of Time_ but he had lived! Didn't he get any credit for that?

But she was so scared.

"Another prophecy about the Warrior?" he asked carefully. "Cause if that was the case, you should have shown it to me when I read last one and I wouldn't have been so convinced of my death."

"No, Gregor," she said gently. "The _Prophecy of Time_ was the last prophecy that included the warrior. By name at least. But this prophecy … it is not a prophecy of Bartholomew

Of Sandwich."

"Who?" Gregor asked. Just when he'd thought that one day the people would be ride of the stupid prophecies, someone else had to go and make up a few to make things difficult.

"Narissa."

Her answer surprised Gregor, if he doubted Sandwich, he still had questions about Narissa. He had seen firsthand the results of Narissa's predictions. He thought of Hamnet meeting them at the Arch of Tantalus with Frill and Hazard, just as Narissa had predicted when she was just a child. Narissa had known that Solovet was keeping Gregor in the dungeon when no one else had been aware of his whereabouts. And all those times she had been aware of what he wanted, at times even before Gregor knew it himself.

That thought made Gregor frown because it reminded him or Mrs. Cormaci and the many times she had saved his life. He had even come to believe that Mrs. Cormaci was something of a Prophetess in her own right. Did that mean he believed Narissa was too?

He sighed, there was too much to take in, "What does the prophecy say?"

"I cannot tell," Luxa told him sadly, "Narissa would not let me read it, only she says it was not yet time and I am afraid Gregor. Seeing you here, with this new prophecy, it makes me fear that some new danger is upon us. If not danger for all the Underland, for you and I at least. Whenever there is a prophecy and you are here, one or both of always seems to be in grave danger, or recovering only to face it all over again."

She took a deep breath and actually reached out to touch Gregor's arm, "Gregor, I fear I cannot stand it one more time. I cannot read a prophecy of doom and hope to escape once more. Gregor, I fear that _you_ cannot escape it once more." Gregor's eyes widened at her words, but she was not finished. Luxa's voice dropped to a whisper, "What if you were not meant to escape last time? What if it is your fate to die here? I _cannot _stand it! I want you to go Gregor, back to the Overland, to the sun and light and your future."

Gregor thought for a long moment about her words, she was right; this place had tried to kill him more times that he could count. Maybe he should try to escape, take his friends and get home, go to college and grow up in the place where he was obviously meant to be. But then he felt Luxa's warm hand on his arm and he realized that warmth was becoming an anchor to him, tying him forever to this dark place; to her, his light.

Gregor placed a hand over hers and took a step closer so she had to raise her head to look up at him, "Luxa, the closer I got to my future in the Overland, the more I realized that I was dying there too. Dying not in the physical sense, but in the sense that I was dying without you. From the moment I saw you last night, I realized that it has been years … six years, seven months and twenty three days, since I last felt alive."

He grinned, "And for a moment when you held a sword tip to me I wondered how I could feel so alive when you were so close to running me though."

Luxa smiled then, a real, honest to goodness Luxa smile that changed her into the most beautiful angel Gregor had ever seen. Without hesitation she threw her arms around him as she had done the night before and held on tightly as he embraced her.

"We shall face the prophecy together," he told her in her ear.

"And we shall live," she agreed fiercely.

When Gregor and Luxa headed back, only Aurora was left, so they both climbed on, Gregor behind her on the bat as they soared back through the twisting and turning tunnels to the city.

"Tell me," Gregor said as he looked down at the city bathed in torchlight, "How are things really?"

"I have sacrificed much with Ripred as my bond," Luxa said, and though he couldn't see her face, he heard the grin in her tone. "But the rat is cunning and wise as any rat can be. Peace is not easy, but we strive hard to maintain it. The Regalian council is once again in force, but they are preceded by the Underland Grand council. You should know many of the members of the Grand council, as they have one member from each species, voted on by the others, as Lizzie suggested. Each group has created their own council as we humans have, so everyone has a voice and a say."

"And everyone is okay with this?" Gregor asked.

"There are a few groups of rats who have tried to rebel, but too many of their own kind are working toward peace. All have lost many, and another war would be too dangerous." She sighed, "Of course, the Cutters have rejected all attempts at peace, and we mostly try to contain them at the borders of their lands. The Diggers were represented on the Grand Council, but negotiations did not go well and they retreated to the places where they have lived ever since…" she paused, glancing over her shoulder at Gregor. She knew he did not approve of the treatment of the Diggers. "They went back to where they have lived since the humans arrived."

"Where are you sending everyone?" Gregor asked, remembering that a huge part of the war was because of the unfair division of land that had lead the Rats to drive the Nibblers out of their homes.

"Ripred is leading that," Luxa answered, smiling again. "We have been sending explorers out into the fire lands, the dead lands and most recently, the uncharted lands and many of our people, in all species are excited to adventure out to new settlements we've found."

"Serious?" Gregor asked in surprise and she turned to look at him again, her face a mask between surprise and indignation at his tone.

"We must, Gregor." She said, "Our differences in the past have been so varied on the surface, but underneath, it is because of an unwillingness to accept or consider the differences of others."

"The humans," Aurora said, surprising Gregor, "Have long hidden behind their walls and weapons while trying to force others to bend to their will."

Luxa nodded at her bats words, "In this way, we are all involved in the future of the Underland."

Gregor was silent for a long time, watching the buildings pass beneath them, the palace come closer. "Share your thoughts, share you?" Luxa asked him and Gregor couldn't help but smile at the phrase that was so similar to Temp's wording. On their first meeting, Luxa and her cousin had mocked and teased the cockroaches, now she imitated their form of questioning.

"I was thinking how changed this place is from when I last saw it. I am amazed at what you have accomplished as queen here, Luxa."

"We would not have had the chance to accomplish anything, were it not for you, Gregor the Overlander."

Gregor tightened his arms around her waist and she leaned her head against his shoulder, both grateful to be together again, at last.

"Shall we go face this new prophecy like we did all the others?" he asked.

She nodded, "Together. We shall face it together."

Luxa lead the Gregor down a familiar hallway in the palace and he was surprised to see where they were headed.

"Are we going to the museum?"

The museum was a large room that housed all of the Overland artifacts that had fallen into the Underland over hundreds of years. During his time in Regalia, the room had been a heaping treasure trove of things from different people and era's.

Now though, as Gregor entered the room he saw that someone had been taking care of the room, things were sorted and organized, not necessarily in a way that made since to him, but probably in a way that made sense to the Underlanders who didn't know what much of the stuff was for.

"The museum has become something of another home for Narissa," Luxa told him as they walked to the middle of the floor. "Narissa, we have come in hopes that it is time."

Though the room looked empty, several seconds after Luxa's voice died down, the girl came out and Gregor was again impressed that she was so different from the wisp of the girl she had been before. Now she actually seemed to have some life to her, not the tendency to faint with too much exertion. Gregor would even go as far as to call her pretty now.

"Hello," Narissa greeted them, eyeing their interlocked hands with something of a secret smile. "Yes cousin, I believe you are right, it is time. But we must have the other Overlanders present as well."

Gregor slapped his hand to his forehead, "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about them! Wait…why do they have to be present to hear the prophecy?"

Again with the secret smile. Okay, maybe Gregor preferred Narissa better when she didn't have all this control, it seemed like a lot of power to give one person.

Luxa walked to the door and called to someone passing by to bring the other Overlanders to the room. It wasn't long before they came in, both looking at Gregor slightly put out. He had to send them home, the Underland wasn't for casual travelers and he had defiantly not been fair to them.

"Hey guys," he said, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, we're still waiting for our promised explanation."

Anna glared at Luxa, "of more than one thing."

Luxa eyes were icy again, "now is not the time for your petty questions. There are much bigger things at stake, Overlander."

"Petty questions?" Anna fumed, "we're stuck in this _creepy_ tomb like place and now you're saying we're not allowed to ask questions?"

Gregor groaned internally, remembering the one time he'd used the word _creepy_ to describe the Underland. Things hadn't gone well, they had understood the word to be an insult and he was betting that Luxa's definition and understanding of the word probably hadn't improved over the years.

The room stilled as the young Queen strode forward to face Anna, her hands clenched at her side. "You do not know of what you speak! Creepy tomb? You have not fought the battles necessary to know the definition of tomb. And creepy? I do not like your creepy eyes and they way the claw at Gregor, so unless you would like to make a greater enemy of the Queen of the Underland, I would suggest you hold your tongue."

Okay, Gregor thought, that was pretty impressive. The two girls stood toe to toe glaring at each other until Gregor saw Knight motioning with his head in their direction. Knight grabbed Anna's hand, Gregor took Luxa by the waist and pulled her back.

"Well, nothing like a cheery prophecy to lighten the mood," he said in a half hearted attempt to distract Luxa from the Anna.

"Yes," Narissa said as if nothing out of the ordinary had transpired. "In just a moment, we will begin."

As she said it, Gregor noticed that there were several others filing into the room now. Luxa gasped as she saw it as well, and he realized it was the entire…what had she called it? The Grand council? One creature from each race being urged along by…

"Well, it's about time," Ripred snarled as he followed Temp into the room. "I never thought I would go to so much trouble just to hear another prophecy. Now, if you had asked me, I could have gone my whole life without hearing another prophecy. But no, the fate of the Underland…well, you all know the drill. That's everyone, right Narissa?"

Gregor caught Ripred's eye, "I thought you were more sensible than that, Ripred."

"And I thought," the rat said in low tones. "You understood the lengths to which I will go to ensure action."

So was this another of Ripred's plans? Yes, as long as there were going to be prophecies that the people believed, Ripred would use them to get what he wanted.

The quiet crinkle of paper made everyone look toward Narissa who was unrolling a small scroll and an eerie silence fell over the room as she began to read.

_ When the last battle has been won, _

_And time is turning back where we once begun, _

_The Underland requires more to thrive, _

_In the darkness, the secrets hide. _

_A sign of peace, a tool of war, _

_A grave and then a dove once more. _

_Scars left by battle, now all you know, _

_For hope to soar, it first must grow. _

_To save all from an endless night, _

_Call the one who brings the light. _

_The coming years will prove and test _

_And to pass you must lead the quest _

_So gather the light and ascend the tower _

_A mission accomplished by those in power. _

_Will you bring back life to all? _

_Or will the Underland now fall? _


	7. Chapter 7

** Chapter 7**

The group's reaction to the Prophecy was pretty well unanimous, Gregor groaned, Luxa sighed, the Members of the Grand council broke out into furious whispers among themselves. Knight and Anna looked pretty confused.

"This," Narissa said, oblivious to their reactions, "I call the Prophecy of Hope."

"Hope?" Knight asked. "If you ask me, it sounds more like a Prophecy of sadness or something like that. Was all that supposed to make sense?"

"Once it's all over," Gregor said, "Then it usually makes all the sense in the world."

"Take a copy may we, take a copy?" asked Temp, scuttling forward, "Read we, find we a meaning."

Narissa handed Temp a copy of the prophecy and the different members of the Grand Council left quickly, still whispering in their different tones of voice as they went to try to interpret a meaning to the vague words.

Gregor turned to Luxa, "what do you think?"

The girl turned to look at Ripred, "I think it's time we tell him the full story, in the telling we may stumble on some deeper meaning to what is going on here. But first I must find Vikus and Hazard," she said, turning to leave. "Then I shall return and tell you all I know. If we are to have hope, this prophecy must be strictly considered. Tell your friends what you must, Gregor, they very well may play a part in this too."

Gregor sighed, as he watched her go, if he could help it, non of them would play a part in another prophecy. They brought too much pain.

"Okay," Gregor said, finally turning back to his friends. They had leaped after him into the Underland, they did deserve an explanation of some sorts. "I will give you a brief history so you'll understand. What do you want to know?"

Anna asked, "How did you find this place?"

At the same moment Knight asked, "How exactly did people get down here?"

Gregor smiled, "I'll try to answer those questions in order. In about the sixteen hundreds, this guy named Bartholomew of Sandwich had a vision that one day the world would be destroyed and that in order to preserve human life, he had to take his followers to the Underland. They took 50 years to get everything ready to go, then sealed themselves off from the Overland except for a few special gates-like the one in my laundry room."

"And you found that one by trying to escape laundry duty or something?" Knight asked.

Gregor shook his head at the memory of that day, "Boots found it by accident when she was two and I dove in after her. It was the worst experience of my life. We got caught up in one of these prophecies and a year and four or five more prophecies later, I returned to the Overland, against all odds with only these-" He stripped his shirt off, revealing fully the scares he'd often tried to keep hidden. "and the nightmares to remind me of the experiences."

Anna stepped forward to get a better look at the scares. Gregor realized they had been good friends to him. After his initial explanation of a farm accident, they hadn't asked him about them. Anna looked up at him wearing a look on her face to match Knight's, it was one Gregor knew full well when it came to the Underland. It said, _I have to believe this because I'm here, but really, it can't be true._

"What are they from?" Anna asked as her fingers ran over one of the five long scares that spread across his chest, Gregor pulled back slightly from her touch.

"They are from a gigantic fourteen foot rat called the Bane, who tried to destroy the Underland."

"And the Warrior here killed him," Ripred said from directly behind Anna, making her jump closer to Knight. "You don't know that your friend here has a legacy for every Underlander."

"Ripred," Gregor said, pulling his shirt back over the scares, "that was dangerously close to a compliment. You're getting soft in your old age."

"Soft? Old? I still have some of the sharpest claws and teeth in the Underland, and one rager to another, you don't want to make me mad."

"You got one more prophecy left in you then?"

Ripred looked intently at him, all joking gone from him for a moment, "You know my feelings on the prophecies, Gregor, but this is much, much more than just another prophecy. The whole Underland stands in a balance once more, and this enemy is not one you can simply slash with a sword."

"Ripred!" Luxa said, making all three of them jump as she came back into the room, Vikus, Hazard, Aurora and Elpis fluttered in behind them. "let us tell the tale, perhaps it is not as dire as it may seem."

Narissa stayed in the room, but not in the circle of those who gathered around Luxa, Gregor watched her as she went around the room, seemingly trying to organize the different artifacts in the museum.

Luxa knelt on the floor and rolled out a large sheet of parchment with a map of the Underland on it. Gregor could see that it wasn't the same map he'd seen before, not only was it smaller, but this map was newer, the Uncharted Lands took up less space and the boarders between the Underlands different inhabitants were not so solid.

"Hazard," Luxa said, looking at the boy who had become her brother in the past few years. "Would you explain the logistics of the map?"

Hazard took four stones from his pocket and put them on the four corners of the map to hold it in down and then took his place beside Luxa above the north end of the map.

"Here," he said pointing, "Is where Regalia is in the north of the Underland. To the east of us is the waterway, with the Fount just here."

He went on, pointing out the other places Gregor knew, the Firelands, the Labyrinth, and the Deadlands. Gregor's eyes went to his friends, realizing that he was glad that they could see this part of him, although they looked astonished at the sheer size of the Underland.

Gregor's eyes were drawn to the parts of the map that were completely new, places that were labeled as inhabited by nibbler and crawler colonies. The Gnawers were divided and Gregor could see how placing them in different areas lessened the likelihood of attack.

Hazard's brief geography lesson ended and he gave a small smile at his cousin, "Did I miss anything?"

Luxa tousled her cousin's hair and grinned at him for a brief moment, "You know far better than I do. Thank you Hazard."

She turned serious again though as she looked up at Gregor, "You know much of this and can see the changes that have taken place in the Underland since the last time you were here. We face a new challenge though, we have the councils put in place and we are striving to work together."

"So. . ." Knight asked, "What's the problem?"

Gregor frowned as he looked at the map and put the words all together. He found himself looking into Ripred's eyes and he knew the answer even before Knight finished his question. "You're running out of food. The Underland can't support you."

"Hmm…" Ripred said, "Perhaps you have actually got some brains after all."

Luxa nodded slowly, "We realized it just about a year ago, things were going so well, we were all working together, but I think we went too fast. We just felt like we had to work out the peace part of things, we didn't realize that we were spreading out, perhaps too thin. The new outposts and settlements we've set up haven't got the systems in place for growing food and so Regalia was supplying them, as well as providing for the nibblers while they got back on their feet, making peace offerings to the Gnawers. The earthquake and shifting of the river has, for the time being, diminished the fish available."

"Why don't you guys just come up to where we are?" Anna asked and all eyes turned to her as silence fell.

"Well," Ripred finally broke the silence, "I'm not sure New York City would be ready for the likes of me."

"Uh…well," Anna stammered and Knight put a supporting hand on her arm.

"I think, she wondered why _you_ don't come to the Overland," he directed his question to Luxa, who sat with Hazard and Vikus on either side of her.

Luxa looked behind her and Aurora and Elpis, then at Ripred, "Many of us could not survive your Overland, not without our bonds. This place, it is where we are from, our home and I cannot lead my people to abandon it."

"Besides," Vikus said, speaking for the first time since entering the room. "We are too different. We would be captured and studied, we would become an oddity. At least, we know that the Overland exists, we can welcome those Overlanders we meet here. But they have no idea we are here. They would invade our lands and demand answers. And our eyes and our skin have never seen sunlight, we could never live normally."

Gregor touched a spot on the map just outside of Regalia, "The Garden of the Hesperides," He said looking directly at Ripred. "Why did you order it rebuilt?"

The rats black eyes narrowed, "In the Underland, friends can become your enemy very quickly. The best way to convince the majority of the rats that the humans were sincere in their attempts at peace was to give back the one thing that they wanted the most."

"What is The Garden of the Hesperides?" Anna asked the group at large, and though most ignored her, Hazard turned to answer.

"The Garden was once given from the rats to the humans as a sign of peace between them."

Luxa reached out and grabbed Hazards arm, "A sign of peace?"

Gregor looked up at her in surprise, "A tool of war,"

"Hmm… very clever," Ripred said as he looked between the two of them. "The prophecy of hope is talking about the Garden."

"We must find a way to…make it grow?" Elpis said, breaking into the conversation. "But that has been tried before and has not worked."

"And that," Luxa said, looking up at Gregor, "Is our quest."

Everyone began talking at once, Vikus left immediately to go and talk with the Grand Council about their theory. He instructed Hazard and Luxa to meet him there shortly.

"What can we do to help?" Knight asked over the chatter.

And Hazards voice tugged at all their hearts when he said, "Where will we find the seeds Luxa? I will accompany you."

They fell silent, most people looking away from the boy who's history was so tied to the Garden.

"You must not come, Hazard," Luxa told him gently, pushing his hair from his eyes. "You must stay here and take care of things here. Vikus would never let you go, and I cannot send you. You are untrained and would only be a danger to yourself. Here, you are invaluable."

Gregor watched as the boys eyes fell to the map and stayed there, his fists clenched at his side. There was something familiar about that expression. He had some of Luxa's _attitude_ in him after all.

Luxa looked at the others then, smiling a little at Knight. "The council will have to decide who goes on the quest. We should break for dinner while Hazard, Ripred and I go to the meeting."

"Sure," Ripred interjected. "Feed everyone but the rat."

Luxa easily ignored him, "Tomorrow morning we should have a clearer view of who is going and where they are going."

As everyone began to file out of the museum, Luxa touched Gregor's arm, "Overlander, may I speak with you?"

Anna and Knight stopped at the door, looking back at him, but Gregor motioned them on, shaking his head at Anna's smug look in Luxa's direction. Ripred, who skulked along behind them shoved his nose into Knights back.

"Ow! We're going!" He said, grabbing Anna's arm and dragging her out of the room with him.

Ripred, the last in line, turned to look at Luxa, their eyes met for a long moment and Gregor had the sense that this was a form of communication they had developed over their years since being bonded. Their thinking had become so in-sync they could practically read each other's thoughts.

Luxa gave a terse nod and Ripred turned to leave, "Oh Overlander," he said snidely over his shoulder, "One day you will learn you are tied too tightly to this place."

Once they were alone, Luxa turned to pace the shelves between all the relics that had someone landed in the Underland over the years. She touched a square of yellow paper and held it up to him. "What is the purpose of this?"

Gregor smiled as he took it from her, "They're post-it notes. You can write on them and stick them somewhere so you don't forget." He peeled one off and stuck it to her shoulder.

She pulled it off curiously and rubbed it between her fingers. "You waste trees for reminders?"

"The Overland is a very different place, Luxa," he told her somewhat sadly.

"Another thing between us then," she said, continuing down the row of treasures. "I can not live there Gregor. I cannot leave the Underland to destruction. What am I to do?"

"Luxa," He said and she turned around at the sound of her name, unable to completely hide the pain on her face. Did she let anyone see how much it strain she was under?

When she spoke, it was soft and to his surprise, he knew the words. Knew them well from the weeks when they had defined his life. "When the monster's blood is spilled,"

"And the warrior has been killed." Gregor continued, picking up the last stanza to his old friend, the Prophecy of Time. "You must not ignore the rapping, or the tapping, tapping, tapping. If the gnawers catch you napping, you will rot while they are mapping out the law of those who gnaw in the code of claw."

She nodded at the words, "Even with Ripred and many of the rats on my side, there is growing unease among them. If we run out of resources, we will cut them off. We will see that the humans survive. They know this, and they will attack before they see the humans attempt to kill them again. Solovet's plague is not yet distant enough for them to forget that there was at a time a plan to kill as many of them as possible."

"But I am the warrior, and I didn't die. I won't let this balance tip. We'll figure out the Prophecy of Hope. We'll go the quest and we'll win." He brushed his hand over her cheek, "no napping for us."

She smiled just a little, "It appears that we do not have the luxury." She sighed, "The Council will want my input on who should go. I cannot sit and wait while they debate though, Gregor. We must make haste and leave right away."

"But to where?"

She looked at him sadly, "I know not where they got the seeds for the golden apples that grew in the Garden. Looking at Hazard's map, I can only think of two places where plants grow easily in the Underland. The Jungle and-" She broke off, not wanting to say it.

"The Vineyard of eyes," Gregor said as he tried to suppress a shudder of his own.

"We cannot take others into that kind of danger, not after what happened last time. When we lost Thalia and almost lost Hazard and Boots. Gregor, I have to do this, and if you will come with me, I will be ever grateful."

"Of course I will come," he paused and thought about his friends. "My friends cannot stay here though, they needed to get back to the Overland before something bad happens to them here."

"I will give orders to have them flown back up to the Overland," Luxa promised him. "And then, we will leave. Tonight, after everyone is asleep. Meet me at the spot."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Ripred met Gregor in the high hall after dinner, "The Queen insists that your friends are to leave tonight. Hazard and his bad have agreed to take them back up to the entrance below Central Park. They are smart enough to find their way home from there, I presume?"

"They'll manage," Gregor said, suppressing much less agreeable replies.

"Personally," Ripred continued without pause, "I think we should keep them around. Especially the girl; she gives Luxa some of that old spark back."

"Shut up, Ripred. What time should I have them here in the hall?"

"Oh, about nine," the rat answered, stretching out lazily and thumping Gregor hard with his tale. "That should give you plenty of time to convince them that they will die if they remain here."

"I think," Gregor said, snatching Ripred's tail in his hand before the rat could swipe at him again, "they might surprise you. They are friends with me, after all. But I'm sending them back anyway."

"Oh Overlander," Ripred said, snickering as Gregor walked away. "I have missed you so."

Gregor found his friends in the room that had been Anna's, sitting on the bed and talking in quick whispers, both of his friends looked rather guilty when Gregor entered the room.

"Gregor," Knight began, "we were just wondering if we should go looking for you."

Gregor knew Knight better than anyone, and he could see that his friend was clearly lying, but he let it slide.

"Well, I saved you the trip. But I have good news for you guys."

"They solved the prophecy thing?" Anna asked, wrinkling her nose.

"Well, they are working on that, but actually the good news is that I have a bat ready to take you guys back up to the Overland."

"What about you?" Anna asked.

"Hey look," Gregor began, "You guys are pretty much the best friends a guy could ask for. You jumped into a dark hole after me!"

"You should always remember that," Knight told him with a grin. "We get major points for that stunt. So cut the crap about us going home. What's the mission and all that jazz? We need to get some armor or something?"

"I can't let you guys go," Gregor said, "I have to send you back. Bad things happen to the people I drag here to the Underland. Like I said, there is a bat that has agreed to take you up to an entrance just below Central Park. You guys can get home from there, right?"

"Wait a minute," Anna said, and Gregor knew form her tone that he was in trouble. "You mean you're just going to send us back up to New York City, like 'see-ya later' and all that and we have to go home and tell your family you're stuck down here trying to figure out some wacked out poem?"

"Anna…"

"Well, that's basically it, right? What if we never hear from you again?"

"And what if your families never hears from either of you again?" Gregor countered, his remark met with thick silence.

"He's got a point," Knight finally said, putting a brave hand on Anna's shoulder, "We can go back and at least let people know we're alive. Besides, I'm pretty sure that between my swordsmanship and your big mouth, we're going to get in more trouble down here than we need."

Gregor watched as Anna looked at Knight, sure she was going to rip his head off, but she finally relaxed, all the fight gone out of her, "Okay. I guess we're going back. Will we ever see you again, Gregor?"

He smiled a little, "I'm going to bet that you will one day. I couldn't have made it through life in the Overland without you guys."

Gregor's saw his friends to the high hall and left them there with Ripred and Vikus. The two would convince them that they were far better off in the Overland than hanging out down here with Gregor. Especially with another prophecy was looming over Regalia. Making a big deal about how tired he was, he disappeared to his room to take an inventory of his supplies. It was just less than an hour later, with his backpack full of Mrs. Cormaci's supplies and a few surprises he'd found in the museum he ventured out into the quiet palace. Carefully peering around each corner, he quietly made his way to the wing of the palace where the old nursery lay, long abandoned by Dulcet and the Nibbler pups who had taken up residence there during the war. He ran into no guards, and so figured that Luxa had set it up for people to forget about the exit hidden in the nursery. As he got closer though, he heard voices and paused to listen for a moment.

"But I must go, Luxa!" It was Hazard, sounding more instant than Gregor had ever heard him.

"You cannot go," she told him, "your father-"

"My father is dead," Hazard told her sharply, cutting her off. "I know it was his wish that I remain untrained, but is that any way to live in a place like this? I am asking to accompany you and Gregor, Luxa."

"No, Hazard," Luxa's voice was firm and icy with her point. "You will stay here. You will go to the high hall and take Gregor's friends home and then you shall return and help Vikus smooth this over with the counsel."

There were no more words exchanged and Gregor hid in a shadowed doorway as Hazard strode quickly back down the hallway. He waited until he could no longer hear the footsteps and then proceeded to the nursery. Luxa had left the turtle's shell open for him and he popped inside, closing it behind him as he headed down the tunnel.

"Luxa?" he whispered, when he reached the spout, looking out into nothingness.

"Drop, Overlander," he heard Elpis say and he dropped out of the spout and onto the bat's back.

"Is it not like old times," Luxa called from somewhere to his left, and he clicked in order to see her clearly. She was smiling, and as they flew away from Regalia, Gregor noted that the weight of the world on her shoulders seemed to lesson. She looked back though, back to Regalia, doubt clouding her eyes, and he figured she was wondering if she was doing the right thing. That weight would always be there. Doing the right-the best-thing for everyone involved.

When they were out of view of the city, she seemed to resign herself to her fate and turned to look forward once again. To his surprise, she flicked on a small flashlight and shone it at him, "Life in the Overland after you left here, it was not easy for you, was it Gregor?"

Although he knew Luxa's question was for conversation sake, he guessed that there was something in her that needed his reassurance. She needed to hear that she was not the only one for whom the world now held a ting of darkness. That she was not the only one who's sleep was still tormented by nightmares of volcanic ash burying her alive, of running into a rat in a dark corridor, or of losing those loved ones they'd been lucky enough to escape with.

He urged Elips to fly closer to Aurora, just a little ahead so he could look back squarely at Luxa, "The nightmares were horrible when we were still in our apartment in New York. I dreaded so many parts of the Underland, and yet I would go down and stand in our laundry room for hours and stare at the grate, fighting everything in my heart about coming back. Grandma was so sick though that none of us could do anything; we were frozen in a kind of limbo while we waited. After she died, my mom had us packed up and moved to Virginia so fast that I hardly had time to realize what had happened. I fought against it, but…" his voice trailed off, unable to put into words the vicious battle that he'd fought, mostly with himself, at that time.

"But you were just twelve," Luxa said, her voice showing compassion and understanding, she didn't hold it against him for not returning when he'd had so little choice in the matter.

"So were you," he reminded her. "You were just twelve, and left with a kingdom to rule."

She nodded, pushing the gold band on her forehead back up onto her head, a familiar gesture, "I was twelve and the youngest ruler of Regalia ever. I was given all the power of my people at that time because there was no one else to take control. I missed you though," she said watching him closely again. "You found friends in the Overland, I am glad for that."

Gregor nodded, "Yeah, in Virginia I had to accept my role as son and older brother again. Knight and Anna helped with that, they've been great friends."

"This Anna, she sees you as more than a friend though?"

Gregor felt his cheeks warm, hearing Luxa ask about his friend's feelings, "yeah, maybe. But I have only ever treated her like a good friend."

Luxa's rare full smile spread across her face, "That is good, Overlander." She said before she and Aurora took off at a high speed, racing them across the darkness below.

They raced for awhile, laughing as they did so, and Gregor relished in the feeling of getting to do something fun with Luxa. It seemed that they were always caught up in life or death situations, one or the other of them recovering from some kind of injury.

"We should give the bats a break," Luxa said sorrowfully when Gregor finally caught up to her. "We may have a long journey yet ahead of us."

The impact of the quest came crashing down on Gregor again and he thought for a long moment, over the prophecy Narissa had shared with them, and then over the theory they had turned up.

"Luxa," he began carefully, "exactly how do you think this will help? Finding some apple seeds to appease the rats? You think apples will feed the Underland?"

She was quiet for a long time, and Gregor worried he had offended her, questioned her authority or something like that, but finally, she answered.

"I think," she began, "It is more of a matter of what is right. The garden of the Hesperides represents a balance of things. I had not heard the story until Ripred told us, and I understand why Solovet kept it hidden from me. It was wrong what she told Hamnet to do; but it was just one example of how she thought the rats should be treated."

"Like the plague," Gregor added, thinking of the faint purple plague scars that still marred his mother's skin.

"Yes, just like the plague," Luxa agreed.

"The rats," Aurora broke in, "they fear the humans. Even now, without Ripred, they would fight back if they could. They fear the power the humans have."

Gregor knew the bat was right, it was why Ripred had stepped up and joined the human side. If he had not, the rats would have followed the Bane. And the Bane had been a tool for the rats, a tool Twirltongue had used to gain power and influence; but even they could not have driven the rats to war had the rats not already been willing to fight the humans.

"I do not know what to do, Gregor." Luxa broke into his thoughts, "But I must do something and the prophecy describes something that was once a gift, a tool of war, a grave and then a dove once more. That is what the Garden has been and must be what the prophecy describes. Perhaps, it will be something that we can give back to the rats so that they may know that we do not want to fight any longer."

"Okay then," Gregor said with a sigh, realizing she was right. "To the Jungle, or the Vineyard of Eyes. Where will we begin, Queen Luxa?"

"The Jungle," Luxa said decisively. "The Nibbler colony is living there again and will know if there is a place in the Jungle where the apples can be found."

Gregor shuddered, "What about the snakes?" he asked, thinking of the last visit he and Luxa had made to the Jungle mice.

"The Twisters?" She turned and gave him a wry smile, "After our last visit, they were apparently too afraid to remain in the nibbler home and have since moved on. The Warrior has become legendary, even among the lesser known creatures of the Underland."

Ignoring her teasing, he looked down over Elpis shoulder, using his echo location to try to see what was below them. He was relieved, that at least this time, they would be able to fly over most of the Jungle. Trekking through it on their way to find the plague cure had been horrible, there was no way to tell which plants were friendly and which ones were waiting for you to make one false move so you would be their next meal. But even will all its dangers, he would much rather be in the Jungle than in the Vineyard of Eyes.

The flight to the jungle was long but Gregor didn't mind. He was able to find out more of what Luxa had been doing over the past years and he was able to share with her some of the good memories he'd had in the Overland. The heat and humidity of the jungle reached them first and then the ground below them began to faintly glow from the jungles water source.

"We are near," Luxa said, as Aurora began circling the spring area, preparing to land.

Gregor was distracted though, when he saw Elpis ears pricked up in a symbol Gregor recognized well from Ares.

"What do you hear?" he asked, causing the others to look up as well.

"Someone is following us," Elpis purred in her soft voice. "I do not think they mean to harm us though."

They hovered there a several minutes more before they caught sight of who was behind them. The bat was light colored and Gregor thought he saw stripes on its body.

"Nike?" Gregor questioned.

"No," Luxa said with a shake of her head. "It is Eris; Hazard's bond."

He saw her face cloud, her intense glare never leave the ever drawing nearer bat. He saw now that the bat was a silvery color, with darker stripes on her face and wings.

Then he saw something else that made anger and frustration course through him. Hazard was not alone. He had brought Gregor's friends.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey Guys-I'm Sorry! My life has been crazy, but I would LOVE to finish this story. Just FYI-Chapter 8 was updated and replaced with some new stuff, especially at the end. Also, Chapter one has a new beginning if you're interested. **

**Also, this story is posted on Wattpad and if you want to follow on there, I have edited some chapters a little more…but that's all up to you. So Thanks a bunch for reading and again, I'm sorry and I shall try to update soon. **

**Thanks, Hopenlight**

**Chapter Nine**

"Hazard," Luxa said as soon as they were in hearing distance, "return to Regalia immediately!"

"Eris is tired and she needs to rest, Luxa." Hazard said. Had it just been Hazard and his bat, Gregor would have been trying to hid a smile from Luxa. He had seen her and Aurora pull this same stunt too many times. But since Hazard had brought Knight and Anna with him, he couldn't smile. He couldn't figure out what he was going to do.

"Shall we land?" Aurora inquired of her Queen and Luxa gave a terse nod. Aurora lead the three bats silently to the ground and while Luxa performed her usual acrobatics off her bat, the others stumbled onto the ground with less grace.

"Touch nothing," Luxa spat at Knight and Anna as she marched toward Hazard who was busying himself giving water to his bat.

"Yeah, she means that," Gregor told his friends quietly. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were going home."

"Uh…you decided that," Anna said with a toss of her hair. "But Knight and I talked with that kid over there, and he told us that you and Luxa were going off on some quest and you'd need our help. So, here we are. What is this place?"

Knight had walked to the edge of a clearing to inspect the vines growing there, "This is amazing, they're not really trees but…"

"Look out!" Gregor said as Knight stretched his hand to touch the blossom on one of the vines. The vine had twitched toward him and Gregor sliced it off just as the bloom snapped onto Knights hand. Severed from its vine, the flower dropped harmlessly to the ground, but there were several teeth-like marks around Knights hand.

"What the-" Knight couldn't even continue his thought as he gazed from his hand to the plant and back again.

Hazard ran to see what damage had been done, "Gregor, get the first aid kit." He commanded as he spit onto the wound and then squeezed to get out any poison that the plant might have carried.

Gregor looked to Luxa who just shrugged.

Hazard made a gesture that almost passed for rolling his eyes. Gregor guessed it meant the same thing. "It is in my pack. You two went off without even thinking about a first aid kit?"

"Obviously," Luxa said with a scowl in their direction, "we would not have had need of it. I told them to touch nothing."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Anna asked Hazard as she held onto Knight's arm.

Hazard nodded, "He will be fine. This plant is poison but it is a very mild poison compared to many of the others. I was able to draw much of it out. You may still be left with a rash, but you will keep your hand."

"Good to know," Knight said, eyes wide as he looked at the boy. "How do you know that?"

"My father raised me in the jungle until he was killed by Cutters. I still remember many of the lessons he gave me. Knowing what plants will kill you and which ones may keep you alive was on the list of important lessons."

With Knight's hand bandaged up, they all turned to look at one another, unsure of what to do next. "Where is it that we are going again?" Knight asked Gregor but before he could answer, Luxa stood from where she had been filling the water skins from the spring.

"You shall sleep here tonight and then you will return with Hazard to Regalia. Gregor and I will continue on the quest so we may save my people."

"Luxa," Hazard said, his green eyes penetrating into hers. "Listen to me, you are wrong. Not only wrong to send us back, but wrong in your interpretation of Narissa Prophecy. What you are looking for is not in the Vineyard of Eyes."

Luxa sighed, not Gregor thought, in defeat, but in frustration. Loving Hazard had always been natural and hard for her. She loved him as her brother, but it was hard because for Luxa it was easier not to love and face the possibility of losing.

"What mean you, Hazard?" she asked him quietly.

"Do you know what the tower is? Do you know where the gateway is?"

The tower. Gregor had forgotten about that line in the prophecy. What was that anyway? There were several tower's in Regalia but not out here in the jungle. The vines couldn't even really be considered trees, so he didn't think they could count as a tower. And a gateway?

He thought back to Vikus speaking to him on his first day in the Underland. "_There are five known gateways into the Underland." _

"Wait," Gregor said interrupting whatever conversation the others were having. "You mean there is a gateway to the Overland in the Jungle? I thought there was only the two in the deadlands, two over the waterway and the one from my Laundry room."

Hazard nodded carefully, "There is another. It is the gateway my mother came from."

Of course. Hazard's mother was an Overlander and it was only logical to assume Hamnet had not spent much time in the Deadlands when he had left Regalia. It was at a time when the disaster of a battle at the Garden of Hesperides would have been fresh in every rats mind. Had he been in the Deadlands, he would have been killed within days most likely.

Gregor had never wondered where the woman who was Hazard's mother had come from. She was obviously an Overlander. From New York City? He didn't know where a Gateway in this part of the Underland would lead. But it suddenly became obvious to Gregor that Hazard was right. Hamnet had met the woman in the Jungle and she had some from a gateway close by or she would not have survived.

"No one spends a lot of time in the Jungle, they don't even send patrols out here like they do in the Deadlands." Hazard pointed out the obvious. "So they wouldn't know of the gateway here because they have never met anyone who came through that gateway."

Gregor looked from Hazard to Luxa and saw that although he didn't believe it possible Luxa's face paled as Hazard's words registered with her. "The Overland?"

"Yes, Luxa," Hazard said gently, taking his cousin's hands. "You must lead this quest to the Overland. I believe that is where the prophecy is speaking of."

"Where do we go?"

Hazard shrugged his thin shoulders, "I don't know for sure. I think we should talk to the nibbles and see if they know anything. Even if they don't, surely they can tell us where some Hissers live. Maybe Frill has some family members who knew my parents story."

"Are Hissers snakes?" Anna asked timidly. Obviously she had gained some insight into the names of the critters in the Underland.

"No," Hazard said as he shook his head. "They are…" he paused for a moment and then looked to Gregor. "What do you call them?"

"Lizards," Gregor provided. "But big lizards. With a Frill."

"Looking for a colony of them sounds like a great idea," Anna said with a sign.

"You are welcome to go back," Luxa said through clenched teeth.

"Not a chance, princess," Anna fired back. "I can't wait to see you on my turf."

"Enough," Gregor said, glaring at Anna. He was trying to suppress the memory of his first quest with Luxa and her cousin Henry. He had thought something similar at the time, but now, he realized that the Overland might be too much for Luxa. He wondered how she would handle it. He looked the circle of questers, "Let's get to safety, set up a guard and get some rest. We'll work out the particulars in the morning."

There was a rustling in the bushes to Gregor's right, and in a flash he and Luxa had their weapons drawn and everyone else behind them as the faced the noise. A pink nose emerged first, followed by a large mouse. With a sigh, they dropped their weapons.

"Queen Luxa," the mouse squeaked in a high voice that Gregor had to concentrate to understand.

"Oh, Affine, it is only you."

"Yes majesty, some of our scouts saw you flying over earlier. We had received word that they are looking for you in Regalia."

"Who?" Luxa asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Ripred sent out scouts. He has a message for you."

"What is it?"

"He would have you know that the Cutters are gathering in the north."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

They were following Affine and two other mice through a narrow jungle path that lead to the colony. Luxa and Hazard walked side by side talking together as Gregor pushed closer to them.

"What did he say?" he asked. He had a harder time understanding the nibblers than they did. The high pitched tones of their voices grated on his nerves.

Luxa sighed, looking back at him with a half smile, reaching out to take his hand in hers. "Ripred's message says that no one has seen so large a number of Cutters as are currently gathering. They are in the north and they are still many hours march from Regalia, but I fear they have a plan."

Gregor squeezed her hand tightly in his for a moment. "What is our plan then?"

"We must decide if we are to go on or go back."

The Cutters could fight, Gregor knew that. But as he recalled the battle he had been in against them at the Vineyard of Eyes, it was not their battle plans that had impressed him. It was their sheer number. With so many, they didn't care who died as long as they could accomplish the goal of destroying all warm blood life in the Underland.

When they reached the colony, Affine turned back to speak to them. "Majesty, if you have a message to send, we have those currently in place who can transmit it back to Regalia."

Luxa nodded, pushing the gold crown back on her head, "Yes, I have a message. Tell Ripred that we are going to continue on the quest. He is to pull in any who are in danger in the path of the Cutters. Bring them into Regalia. They are not to attack the Cutters until it is imperative, and then he is to use the plan we discussed."

Her shoulders slumped under the weight of her responsibility. "We shall speed the process of the quest in order to try to come back and help in the battle."

"We shall send the message," Affine said as he went off.

"How do they send messages?" Knight asked curiously.

"There are stations throughout the Underland where we transmit messages. They will use the tree of transmission."

Knight looked at Gregor blankly, "It's kind of like Morris Code." Gregor told him quickly. "They'll get the message."

Another gray mouse approached them, dipping its head in Luxa's direction. "I am Sphere, Majesty. Will your party be staying with us tonight?"

Luxa dropped down on one knee so she was on the same level as the mouse. "I do not know. That was our original plan, but I have some questions first. Do you know of a place in the Jungle called 'the tower'?"

Sphere thought for a moment then shook her head back and forth, "I do not. There is nothing I can think of by that name. Why do you ask?"

Luxa pulled out a folded sheet of paper and Gregor realized it was a copy of the Prophecy of Hope. She unfolded it and placed on the ground in front of the nibbler. Several others gathered around now to look at it as well.

"This Prophecy tells of a tower. We wonder if it leads to a way to reach the Overland; an unknown gateway."

While the nibblers looked over the prophecy they spoke to each other in high pitched squeaks and squeals. Hazard whispered a translation near Luxa's ear, but Gregor could hear none of it. Instead, he re-read the prophecy over Luxa's shoulder.

A line in the third stanza caught his attention, as it had the first time he read it through. _Call the one who brings the light._ What that talking about him? He frowned as he thought about it. Would he ever be able to make a decision that would surprise anyone? Would he ever be able to live his life free of these prophecies?

If they were so amazing, why hadn't it mentioned anything about the cutters? Like, Oh, and by the way, while you working on that problem, a million aunts are going to attack. Good luck. He wanted a prophecy like that.

He was called back to the conversation when Sphere spoke again, this time in English.

"We know not of what the prophecy speaks. We are not those originally from this colony though." No, thought Gregor. Those mice had ended up gassed in a volcanic chamber by the rats. "But others in the jungle may be able to tell you what you seek."

"Do you know of any Hissers?" Hazard asked her.

"Yes." Sphere said with a nod. "They are some distance away. Perhaps only a day's flight on your fliers, though."

"Then, if you agree," Luxa said, "We shall stay here for tonight and take our leave for the Hisser's in the morning."

"It shall be our honor," Affine said as he came back to the group. "Your message has been relayed and is on its way to Regalia."

Knight and Gregor gathered up dead vines around the nibbler caves in order to make a cook fire. Luxa and Hazard went to fish and Gregor asked Elpis to help Anna find some of the plum-like fruit he remembered from his last trip to the jungle. After a good supper, Knight turned to Gregor.

"So, I mean, how come you never showed me how to sword fight before?"

Gregor smiled and shook his head, "It's not something I tried to show off at High School wrestling meets."

Knight poked a stick in the fire and was quiet for several moments before he looked up, "Do you think you could show me now? I know I'm not going to learn overnight or anything…but I think I would feel a bit safer if I knew something about it."

Gregor was taken back by the request, but then he smiled at his friend, "Yeah, come on." They both stood to move to a more open area when Hazard spoke up.

"Would you show me as well, Gregor?" He asked and Luxa's quiet conversation with a few of the mouse leaders cut off as she swung around.

"No, Hazard," she looked up at Gregor with her violet eyes as close to pleading as he had ever seen them. "Gregor, you cannot."

"Luxa!" Hazard broke in at the unfairness. "Knight is right, it is better to be prepared than to be a liability."

"No, Hazard," Luca said firmly once more. "I made a promise to your father that I would not let you be trained to be a worrier." As she spoke, she reached out to push some of Hazard's dark curls from his forehead.

He jerked away from her hand, "I'm not asking to be a warrior, Luxa. I don't want to kill, but I also do not want to be killed because I am the only Underlander who has never handled a sword."

Gregor did not speak as he watched the embers of the dying fire dance in Luxa's eyes as she glared down into it. Maybe Hazard was right, but Gregor had been there on the day Hamnet lay dying. His only request was that Hazard not be taught to fight. He didn't want Solovet to get her hands on Hazard.

"Solovet is dead, Luxa." Hazard said quietly. "I am not my father, and I think even he would want me to be able to defend myself." He stood and came to stand beside Gregor and Knight. "Gregor? Will you teach me as well?"

Gregor looked at Luxa who didn't look up at the three of them, but finally gave one jerky nod of her head.

Gregor went over the basics with his two apprentice swordsmen, but he soon realized that his rager sensation provided for most of his talent. Without it, his swordplay was awkward and imprecise at best.

Luxa had moved to lean against a tall boulder, watching as the lesson progressed with a half smile on her face. "Overlander, perhaps you should leave the lessons to me. You do not do a credit to Mareth's instruction. I would not have gone so easy on you the other day, had I known your skills were so lacking."

Gregor grinned back at her, "I shall accept a rematch challenge at anytime."

"Later," she said taking her sword from her belt and pushing him out of the way.

Hazard gazed at her, "Will you teach me, Luxa."

She gave the same stiff nod as before, "Take Gregor's sword."

Gregor surrendered his sword and walked back to the nearly dead fire. Anna was the only one still sitting there, the nibblers having gone off to their caves. She sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, her chin resting on them. She looked out at the surrounding darkness, her eyes unfocused until he came and sat down beside her.

"How are you?" Gregor asked.

"Are you going to listen to anything I say this time?" She looked at him with sad blue eyes. "I don't matter to you here, do I Gregor? I never really did, I guess."

Her eyes went to Luxa and Gregor followed her gaze. Luxa really was amazing, she was showing off though. The moves she was doing weren't ones she expected the boys to be able to replicate. He didn't know anyone who could perform gymnastics with a sword like Luxa could.

"See what I mean?" Anna said her tone heavy with forced lightness.

"I'm sorry, Anna," Gregor said. And he really was. He had never meant to lead her on or make her think he wanted anything more than friendship from her.

"You know, there is this side to Gregor that is so mysterious. Everyone says it. You're top of your class, you're friends with everyone, you have a great family and you love your little sisters. And then, to top all of that off, every girl knows that there is something about you that they just can't figure out." She laughed softly, "I wanted to be the girl who figured it out. I guess I did, I just didn't know how much competition that mystery would be."

Gregor hadn't known any of that, he wasn't aware that people thought that about him. He tried so hard to push the thoughts of the Underland out of his mind that he hadn't realized it was still there in his everyday life; that secret that he couldn't share with anyone.

"I was twelve years old, Anna." Gregor told her softly. "I felt like I was thirty. When I came back from the Underland, I was barely holding it together. Not just mentally, but physically as well. The doctors had to put me back together after the last fight I had with the Bane. Luxa was there with me through everything. I didn't mean to drag you and Knight into this though, I'm sorry for that."

Anna looked at him again, her eyes piercing even in the darkness. "That's what friends are for, Gregor. I'm sorry you couldn't trust us with this secret before we saw it for ourselves."

Gregor smiled at a sudden thought, "Luxa could use a friend like you, Anna."

She stood up with a half laugh, "Don't push it, Overlander."


End file.
